14 pins, 4 nand gates.
Posted on 07/11/2021 2:39:57 PM PDT by blam
Silicon is the crude oil of the Digital Age. Millions of metric tons are mined every year in China, Russia, Norway, the US and elsewhere, much of which is used in the $500 billion global market for semiconductors. In turn, the manufactured silicon chips, wafers, and integrated circuits power tens of trillions of dollars worth of hardware running personal and business software, wired and wireless communication devices, consumer electronics, automotive components, industrial technology, and other critical processes worldwide.
Manufacturing semiconductors involves not only a network of highly specialized firms in an often multistage production process, but a dependence upon firms which produce the ultra-high precision equipment for the fabrication procedure. Thus while silicon is a metalloid and accordingly a commodity, the various chips employing it describe a spectrum of complexity that runs from basic microcontrollers to high performance processors: each of which rarely has substitutes.
“It’s not rocket science—it’s much more difficult,” goes one of the industry’s inside jokes…Manufacturing a chip typically takes more than three months and involves giant factories, dust-free rooms, multi-million-dollar machines, molten tin and lasers. The end goal is to transform wafers of silicon—an element extracted from plain sand—into a network of billions of tiny switches called transistors that form the basis of the circuitry that will eventually give a phone, computer, car, washing machine or satellite crucial capabilities.
Beginning in 2020 and accelerating into 2021, a chip shortage has, to various extents, plagued the estimated 169 industries which depend upon them. While a small number of firms stockpiled chips in anticipation of just such an occurrence, the overwhelming majority of firms for which semiconductors are a key factor input have had to reduce their output. But like so much else, the inadequate supply of semiconductors is at the center of a handful of causes...
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(Excerpt) Read more at activistpost.com ...
I once explained to my dad that it was like building an 18 story building under a microscope, with all the rooms, windows/doors, wiring, plumbing and ect.
That was 30 years ago with 1.0-1.5 micron minimum features.
Today, with 7nm features, you can't even see that under a microscope.
Beginning in 2020 and accelerating into 2021, a chip shortage has, to various extents, plagued …’
What happened in ‘20 a magic chip shortage?
“What happened in ‘20 a magic chip shortage?”
Most supply chain issues are being blamed on the China virus.
“a network of highly specialized firms”
And the entire manufacturing ecosystem has been offshored, by all those in power, from all sides.
The facilities are gone. The jobs are gone. The knowledge is gone.
You’ve sold out.
Our PDJT started to bring it back.
Where do we go when the chips are down?
All of which is true, but irrelevant. Being an economist like Peter C. Earle evidently is may make him an expert on economics but where is his expertise in semiconductor manufacturing and its supply chain issues?
I didn’t think so. Thus I’ll have no problem ignoring his blathering about things he obviously does not understand.
That isn’t exactly correct.
90% of Intel’s fab capacity is in the USA as well as its design capacity.
TSMC, based in Taiwan is the biggest manufacturer in 5-7nm process and supplies most fabless companies.
Not sure who is #3 now.
Global Foundry managed to crash its entire company trying to make their 7nm process work.
It was never going to work at speed.
14 pins, 4 nand gates.
Some of us do. Worked for Texas Instruments a long time ago (can't give many details - I know liberals read here and hate some of us, especially the ones who have been direct). Have been through clean rooms. I guess I should write a book about all of the things I've done some day, and especially some of the people whom I have met. Ah, never mind, few care.
It is especially funny because most of them can not read beyond the 5th grade level, if that. And their math skills are relegated to counting on their fingers. Are their smartphones loaded with Kindle books? Not on your life! Their "smartphones" are loaded with videos of "aspiring rappers". “He a good boy.”
Beginning since the late 1990’s, one by one most of the chip companies in the US have been shuttering their chip fabs here in the US and outsourcing it to Taiwan, Korea, China. While this created a lot of jobs in Asia and a lot of bonus money for the upper management of US chip corporations, it has hollowed out US tech manufacturing. Dubya and Obama let it happen and were asleep at the wheel in realizing the long-term threat it posed. PDJT did realize it and tried to do something about it, but was under attack from all sides. Now, we have Beijing Joe. The consequences of ignoring the chip manufacturing industry are now starting to become apparent but what is being done now is too little too late. Intel and Apple are now having to go begging to TSMC. The US has lost the lead in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. It may never get it back.
>>The US has lost the lead in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. It may never get it back.<<
Oh, we’ll get it back alright. It will take a war with communist China to make it happen however.
>>Oh, we’ll get it back alright. It will take a war with communist China to make it happen however.<<
Considering the profits of those who control the US government (i.e. large US globalist corporations) are dependent on stable and continuing trade with China, the possibility of entering into any conflict with China that disrupts the gravy-train is near-zero.
I would love to read your book.
the ‘gravy-train’
of the d.c. grifters and their ilk has
been traded in for
‘rice bowls’.
.
Trump broke quite a few in his term
but Biden Regime has been glueing them back together as fast as they can.
This is why it’s good to buy stuff that does not depend on chips, that is just plain old fashioned mechanical.
Mr mm just dealt with that getting a new chain saw. He had to search to to find one that did NOT have a chip in it. For a CHAIN SAW of all things.
I retired from TI a long time ago, 26 years ago to be exact.
Another one here who would buy your book.
One error in that link.
Quacomm doesn’t have a fab.
They primarily use TSMC as does Apple.
Micron has a big operation in mostly Idaho but its almost exclusively memory.
Operations in South Korea have taken much of Micron’s business.
TI has been around for a long time but other than a few good years, has never captured a unique design and got prosperous from it.
IBM and Digital Equipment used to have fabs designing chips for internal use only but it became too big of a drag on their bottom line.
IBM sold their fab to Global Foundry and Digital “sold” it to Intel and then Intel quickly closed it.
I think the current cost to build a fast 5nm fab is close to $4B and you need to keep it busy 24-7 with high yields to make a profit on it
So far, only TSMC is making a profit on 5nm.
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