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Computer Chips Are Still 'Made in USA' (axios.com)
For all the wishful thinking about manufacturing more laptops and iPhones in the U.S., there is one sector of tech manufacturing where America remains a leader: computer chips. From a report: Some $44 billion worth of semiconductors are exported from the U.S. each year, making them America's fourth leading manufacturing export after cars, airplanes and refined oil. There are roughly 80 wafer fabrication plants (aka fabs) in the U.S., spread across 19 states. [...] An even greater share of the world's computer chips are designed domestically and made overseas by companies including Qualcomm, Apple, Broadcom and Nvidia. A bunch of the high-tech gear needed to produce chips is also designed and/or made in the U.S.
Sure they still do, but China is beginning to manufacture X86 CPUs directly. It's only a matter of time until they catch up and crush Intel and AMD through undercutting, and throwing money at the problem. https://www.tomshardware.com/n...
. . . computer chips with state-of-the-art lithography soon all will be manufactured overseas. Specifically, they will be made by exactly two companies, Samsung and TSMC, with GlobalFoundries' recent announcement that it is stopping development of its 7nm process. GF operated the old IBM facility in Fishkill, NY, and AFAIK was the last company offering state-of-the-art foundry services with a fab in the US.
Intel is still in business, of course, and even has a foundry business, but it cannot seem to successfully operate it -- substantially all of its wafer starts are chips of its own design. With the capital cost of each new-generation fab reaching $20 billion, it's only a matter of time until Intel -- which has only its internal product base of chip designs to fill its fabs, while Samsung and TSMC make chips for the entire industry -- can no longer afford the move to the next generation.
If the rest of the semiconductor industry (or the US DoD) wants high-performance computer chips, there's now nowhere to go except Samsung and TSMC. It will be interesting to see what politicians do when they realize that the best digital chips can no longer be manufactured in the US. The choice seems to be either (1) have our economy -- everything from cell phones to missiles -- dependent on chips manufactured overseas, or (2) subsidize Intel's foundry business and the semiconductor equipment manufacturers to the tune of tens of $billions, just to keep a US source of high-performance semiconductors.
Why?
Politics of course..
Could you please expand?
P o l i t i c s o f c o u r s e.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
"An even greater share of the world's computer chips are designed domestically and made overseas by companies including Qualcomm, Apple, Broadcom and Nvidia."
This reads as though Qualcomm, Apple, Broadcom and Nvidia are making chips. What would be clear and accurate is:
"An even greater share of the world's computer chips are designed domestically by companies including Qualcomm, Apple, Broadcom and Nvidia and made overseas."
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Why?
Politics of course..
Could you please expand?
P o l i t i c s o f c o u r s e.
I'm not sure if I should laugh, or hunt you down and smack you upside your head with a 2x4.
I mean, I thought it was hilarious, and it wasn't the name calling garbage you see here too often.
TSMC and Samsung are the leaders in chip making. And second class Intel and AMD both have shady Middle-East ties from Israel and Dubai.
Don't forget, a hefty chunk of Qualcomm's - and pretty much all of Apple's - designs are not original, but instead are based on IP from ARM, a British company (although recently bought out by SoftBank).
In fact, Broadcom and Nvidia are also licencees of ARM IP as well, but less of their overall product range derives from it.
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If the US leads in chip manufacture, why can't it be competitive in putting the pieces together?
Because most of the CPU silicon used in the commonest devices - phones and laptops - is fabbed in Asia.
Because most of the parts - like screens, RAM and flash storage - are also made in Asia, so it's cheaper to bolt it all together in a location closest to the source of the most parts.
Because final assembly of something like an iPhone is a manual process that requires the dexterity of nimble fingers. It's not quite the same as bolting doors onto a Chevvy.
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This is a crazy article. At the end, it meekly points out that the US has a 13% market share in chip production. Given that the US started this industry, leads in design in this space, leads in capital available for high tech industry, and that the US accounts for 15% to 18% of global GDP, a 13% market share in chip production is very poor performance. This is below what you might expect for a simple commodity that depends only on domestic market size and way below what you'd expect for this industry.
There is a reason the US is the worlds number one destination when it comes to people trying to enter the US.
Is that reason simple logic?