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I think we are not getting the entire story there. They can definitely get more profitable businesses under PLIs (Govt imposes tarrif on a protected item, and subsidises manufacturing past a certain size goal)
A lot of high margin chips are there which will not require latest nodes. RF parts...
Depending on how you see it, Texas Instruments Javelin is also a "kamikaze drone," except it's eighties technology... For the time, it was genuinely a sci-fi level of technology.
I think a more important take from this is that semiconductor industry is that ship which has sailed.
It's not near impossible to run a semiconductor company as an SME, let alone trying to enter it now as SME.
130nm/180nm tapeouts on 200mm were the only option which worked for very low volume...
There is no shortage on 300mm legacy nodes (40nm-90nm), but 200mm shortage is monstrous (lead times in years), and no new 200mm equipment is coming — that is as certain as laws of nature.
The most probable scenario for 200mm shortage is for old product lines to just slowly die out, and for...
DRAM drop is massive as reported from mainland China. 40% sales drop on year-on-year basis, but last year was anomalous as well as unusually many companies been working through lunar new year holidays
Even as an SRAM die only process, it will be awesome, and grant an incredible economic advantage. Imagine the prospect of 1-2GB L3 on budget SoCs, and CPUs. I think you would be able to even forego putting in DRAM for embedded products in this case.
9 out of 10 fabs are built by either Exyte or Fluor.
And they are bringing all those expensive specialist workers with them most of the time.
I doubt construction cost fluctuation is just due to contractors being n-times more expensive.
Custom ASICs in production numbers without cost, and lead times of mask shops will allow non-million dollar companies to access IC manufacturing for the first time.
Things currently served by many passive components, individual FETs, and 74XXX to do thing like sequencing power-on, reset, or...
Nevertheless, it's impressive what they managed to achieve with 450nm light source 2 decades ago.
https://sci-hub.se/10.1117/12.468623
The techniques used to get acceptable image out of artefact producing DLP matrix could be used on a micro-led matrix as well.
I-line microled matrixes are there, surprisingly efficient, and they indeed been used a lot already for non-litho tasks.
Check out these fellows: jb-display.com . If micro-led matrixes would be able to do maskless 180nm, it would already be a world-changing thing, and if they manage to make a...
Far more technology transfer to China was done by Taiwan, Korea, Japan and, disproportionately, Singapore than USA, or any European country.
And they benefited from economic exploitation in China enormously in comparison to US, or Europeans.
However, it was USA who greenlighted relations with...
I began reading on MEMS industry, and how one enters it. It seem there are close to no "feeder industries" into it, and most opportunities on working on new MEMS developments come from university->industry transition.
MEMS made crazy advances over the last decade, and I still can't fathom how...
On 40+ you have not just 2 alternative fabs, but at least 4 fabs sharing processes close enough for push-button migration in between them all. That's the critical difference.
A lot of cheapest MCUs, and ASICs makers feel very comfortable on legacy nodes thanks to prices on older 300mm nodes...
That's what's called sequential 3D. A new EPI or oxide layer is desposited, and then they make a N or P MOS part of a CMOS on top of it.
VTFET allows to etch single vertical channel which will then be used by multiple devices built directly on top of each other. An entire 6T SRAM cell can...
And back then, getting into semi was infinitely more easy. Even a country like Pakistan had a fab back then.
Samsung Semi only got anywhere in early 200X. Daewoo semi is nowhere, Lucky Gold Star reverted to analog, Hyundai also wrapped its semi attempts.
I think the lack of design portability after 40nm destroyed every chance for a next fast follower. TSMC itself played a fast follower extremely well, and managed to stay in the game until the bifurcation point to proprietary processes.
For the same reason, there is no opportunity left for any...