Intel CEO to attend White House meeting on chip supply chain

[lilo777]

My view - there is a good argument for the US to allocate more resources to bolster US-based manufacturing, but only at a level sufficient to meet the needs of US national security (defense, intel, cyber, space) and other critical infrastructure. The goal is not, and should not be, self-sufficiency. And that manufacturing can be distributed across and shared by allied nations.

This should be an investment in US competitiveness in the semiconductor industry writ large, not an initiative that underwrites capacity investments that manufacturers would make anyway to meet market demand. A balance of the deployment of funds to the R&D side and workforce development is key. One thoughtful piece outlining the case for this (Labs not Fabs) is found here: https://www.fpri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/fpri-semiconductors-report.pdf

Let us hope that USG develops a thoughtful strategy prior to deploying the incentives. The incentives need to be targeted to fill critical gaps in Research and in manufacturing capacity across the semi supply chain, not be deployed on an opportunistic basis - whoever shows up first, or whoever is in the district of a powerful legislator. Other concerns: a) loss of critical mass in funding by the broad range of targets in the bill, technology centers, manufacturing institutes, multilateral funds; b) bureaucracy: there are a number of US agencies at the table, perhaps with different priorities, plus Congressional oversight, speed, and effectiveness are at risk; c) the need for extremely strong executive, business, technical and program management leadership that is committed to the USG agenda, not that of individual companies.

There are some good people in the room - let's encourage them to get it right.

While I agree with what you said, I would add that "only at a level sufficient to meet the needs of US national security (defense, intel, cyber, space) and other critical infrastructure" is difficult to quantify. These industries may not need that many chips. On the other hand low volume semiconductor business just is not sustainable and would not be competitive in the long run.

 

[count]

Did the guys quit his construction, and concrete businesses, or is he busy running them in parallel with Broadcomm?

Hock Tan isn't running a technology company. He's running a semi conductor roll up company. Totally different business model.