> Realistically, I can see building new 28nm 12" fabs and designing new die (for the same purpose) for the smaller geometry, but anything older/larger will just

> Realistically, I can see building new 28nm 12" fabs and designing new die (for the same purpose) for the smaller geometry, but anything older/larger will just make due with what is available. The ecosystem existed because newer fabs were always taking up the demand slack, while the older lower cost fabs were fully depreciated and didn't take much engineering effort to keep running the same old process. Also, power matters. Smaller process means jack shit if the part needs the same amount of current running thru it. Anything analog is harder to shrink (as you care about the detailed parameters of transistors, not just the on/off state, so most likely full redesign), and anything that needs to pass enough current and enough voltage just can't be shrunk in the first place. See your humble 5A linear regulator die shot https://zeptobars.com/en/read/LM338K-5A-LDO-TO-3-TO-220 https://zeptobars.com/en/read/LM338K-5A-LDO-TO-3-TO-220 only the upper part could be shunk, the bottom one, the power transistor, can't be