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Why do European experts have to come to Silicon Valley? I see it all the time. They should build up expertise at home - start the new ST Microelectronics
by sydthrowaway 4y ago
Why do European experts have to come to Silicon Valley? I see it all the time. They should build up expertise at home - start the new ST Microelectronics
- simonebrunozzi 4y agoFederico Faggin came to Silicon Valley as part of the Olivetti group, which in the sixties was on a great trajectory. Then Adriano died unexpectedly [0], and things started to fall apart. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriano_Olivetti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriano_Olivetti
- sydthrowaway 4y agoWow. Italy could have dominated the world (again)
- moffkalast 4y agoIirc up till recently EU environmental laws practically outlawed any kind of silicon fabs on the continent. It's only now that Intel has decided to move a plant here, so something must've changed.
- ahartmetz 4y agoEuropean environmental laws can be complied with and the technology to do so is commercially available. There are tens of larger process fabs in Europe. AMD Dresden was only behind Intel when it was new.
- skissane 4y agoHave a look at this Wikipedia article – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_semiconductor_fabrication_plants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_semiconductor_fabricat... – and see that it lists semiconductor fabs in multiple EU countries – Germany, Italy, the UK (was in EU at the time), Ireland, France – opening in every decade from the 1950s through to the 2010s. The accuracy of your recollection seems open to question.
- moffkalast 4y agoThen apparently I do not recall correctly, it's something a guy from Cypress once mentioned to me.
- pkaye 4y agoThere used to a lot more fabs in the US and Europe back in the 90s. I used to work at a company that supplied fab equipment to many of them. My guess is there was a lot of consolidation over the years due to lax environmental laws and labor costs in Asian countries.
- sva_ 4y agoSalary (which leads to brain-dump). It is a very effective strategy for a country.
- skissane 4y agoUS firms can pay higher R&D/engineering salaries because they have a lower cost of capital. Part of the explanation for the lower cost of capital, is that US investors have a higher risk appetite than those in most other OECD economies; also, the US has an arguably more efficient pipeline (VC firms, etc) for getting money from investors to entrepreneurs. Some of it is no doubt influenced by regulatory issues (such as taxation differences), but cultural differences likely also play a role.
- bhc 4y agoI often hear US investors have a higher risk appetite, but why is that the case? I imagine it can't be just cultural differences.
- p_l 4y agoAvailability of capital for investors is one thing. A lot of the VC pipeline also reaps rewards from how USA was the one country with untouched industry at the end of WW2 and then funneled huge amounts of moneys into expanding, not reconstruction.
- jandrewrogers 4y agoIt is difficult to separate the culture from the consequences of the culture. In the US there is minimal social stigma for trying something ambitious and failing, the culture respects the ambition and courage to try even if it doesn't work out or the idea was slightly idiotic. In many parts of the world, trying something and failing is held against you and becomes a social black mark; Americans just shrug and move on to the next thing. Investors in the US reflect that culture. A lot of American cultural difference relative to the rest of the world can be explained almost entirely by the unusual absence of Tall Poppy Syndrome[0] that is a hallmark of most other industrialized societies. American culture respects those taking large risks for concomitant rewards, and doesn't begrudge the rewards that might accrue to someone taking those risks. It is easy to have a high risk appetite when it increases one's social status. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome
- erosenbe0 4y agoST, Infineon, ARM, NXP, and ASML are based in Europe. So nothing to sneeze at.
- throwaway4good 4y agoAt the time of ancient Rome or the British empire, talent, people, money would also gravitate to towards the center, whether it being London or Rome. In a way that is how an empire works, sucking dry the areas that it controls, while constantly waging war to conquer new land.
- hulitu 4y agoAmerican dream and impossibility to develop in their own countries.