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Wow, great article! > TSMC pumps out close to 60 per cent of the semiconductor chips used around the world and makes 90 per cent of the most advanced technolog

Wow, great article! > TSMC pumps out close to 60 per cent of the semiconductor chips used around the world and makes 90 per cent of the most advanced technology used in phones and laptops all the way to missile systems. I knew TSMC was dominant but not that dominant. Couple that with ASML in the Netherlands which makes the chip making machines, and I'm wondering if there has been any time in history when so much of our critical technology in our world has been concentrated in so few producers.

astrange 3y ago
ASML has a few more layers of sole suppliers under it IIRC, they just don't get as much credit.
- _hypx 3y ago
  ASML is the only provider of EUV lithographic machines. TSMC is just slightly ahead of Samsung and Intel at utilizing that technology. I honestly can't see how anymore puts TSMC above ASML.
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    Yeah this story doesn't make much sense. Intel and Samsung are only a few years behind TSMC, recreating ASML and their sole suppliers even within 10 years would be quite a stretch.
  - WeylandYutani 3y ago
    ASML is concentrated in a country that has been politically stable and uncontested for 80 years and doesn't seek the media spotlight. It is easy to overlook. Nobody really pays much attention to the Netherlands or it's non existing foreign ambitions and there is no state involvement in ASML. Basically no drama means no journalism.
- Namahanna 3y ago
  Carl Zeiss makes some amazing optics to allow it all to happen https://www.asianometry.com/p/how-carl-zeiss-crafted-a-house-of https://www.asianometry.com/p/how-carl-zeiss-crafted-a-house... To quote: To make these EUV mirrors, each 2 to 4 nanometer layer of molybdenum and silicon has to be deposited one by one. Fifty times, without fatal defects. After that, each mirror has to be painstakingly polished. The acceptable surface deviation metric is 50 picometers, or 50 trillionths of a meter. That is a staggering number. To put that into perspective. 50 picometers on a mirror that is 450 millimeters wide. If that 450 millimeter mirror was blown up to the size of the United States, 4,500 kilometers or 2,800 miles wide, then 50 picometers would be just 0.5 mm tall.
  - nealabq 3y ago
    Altho there's a couple ways to define an atomic radius, molybdenum's and silicon's empirically measured covalent atomic radii are 145 and 110 picometers respectively [1]. So 50pm is a very small bump indeed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_radius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_radius
roenxi 3y ago
The tech industry tends to fixate on the cutting edge. Global Foundries has process tech that is 10 years out of date (14nm). 14nm is fine, a lot of good chips were produced 10 years ago. If we optimistically assume that there are usually a few players in the market that are 10 years behind, that means many sellers will be at 3nm soon. TSMC is dominant, and we could imagine that in a wartime scenario maybe that'd matter (big maybe, why would a military need mass production of chips that didn't exist a few years ago?). But for anything else, capitalism will happen and 60% market share is impressive but not concerning. The current strategy of trying to restrict China's access to chips might easily spur some competition. > I'm wondering if there has been any time in history when so much of our critical technology in our world has been concentrated in so few producers. Nuclear bombs? And I'd assume this happens all the time. Any cutting edge market, in fact, seems like it should often start with one big player that has a better understanding of new research that is then slowly worn down by competition as the knowledge spreads.
- krastanov 3y ago
  Reusable orbital vehicles comes to mind as another current example. At least "mostly reusable".
- neurostimulant 3y ago
  I'm still using an intel i7-4790 (22nm process) on my primary small form factor desktop and it's perfectly fine for day-to-day computing. It can even run most games just fine after I stick the fastest slot-powered gpu I can find (RTX A2000).
- quickthrower2 3y ago
  AI processing power could certainly be a useful weapon in war.
user_named 3y ago
[flagged]
- ansmithz42 3y ago
  What!?!?!?!
  - thoughtstheseus 3y ago
    The PRC and its people view Taiwan as part of China. It would be viewed by many as an invasion of China and clear interference with its sovereignty. If the U.S. dares to integrate its sensor, software, and shooter capabilities with Taiwan it should expect a forceful response from the PRC.
mekster 3y ago
This is the company that every dictator wants to have which can literally control the world if it wanted. It has so many of the electronics under its hostage, no one can make a deal if it went out of control, except by violence. Yet, still being a respected company is marvelous. Imagine how crap the world becomes if it comes under Chinese or Russian control.
YetAnotherNick 3y ago
If TSMC is the most advanced and other players are 2-3 years behind, by definition 100% of the most advanced would be produced by TSMC. And I think they are only talking about CPU or microcontroller, not all silicon.

astrange 3y ago

ASML has a few more layers of sole suppliers under it IIRC, they just don't get as much credit.

_hypx 3y ago
ASML is the only provider of EUV lithographic machines. TSMC is just slightly ahead of Samsung and Intel at utilizing that technology. I honestly can't see how anymore puts TSMC above ASML.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago
  Yeah this story doesn't make much sense. Intel and Samsung are only a few years behind TSMC, recreating ASML and their sole suppliers even within 10 years would be quite a stretch.
- WeylandYutani 3y ago
  ASML is concentrated in a country that has been politically stable and uncontested for 80 years and doesn't seek the media spotlight. It is easy to overlook. Nobody really pays much attention to the Netherlands or it's non existing foreign ambitions and there is no state involvement in ASML. Basically no drama means no journalism.
Namahanna 3y ago
Carl Zeiss makes some amazing optics to allow it all to happen https://www.asianometry.com/p/how-carl-zeiss-crafted-a-house-of https://www.asianometry.com/p/how-carl-zeiss-crafted-a-house... To quote: To make these EUV mirrors, each 2 to 4 nanometer layer of molybdenum and silicon has to be deposited one by one. Fifty times, without fatal defects. After that, each mirror has to be painstakingly polished. The acceptable surface deviation metric is 50 picometers, or 50 trillionths of a meter. That is a staggering number. To put that into perspective. 50 picometers on a mirror that is 450 millimeters wide. If that 450 millimeter mirror was blown up to the size of the United States, 4,500 kilometers or 2,800 miles wide, then 50 picometers would be just 0.5 mm tall.
- nealabq 3y ago
  Altho there's a couple ways to define an atomic radius, molybdenum's and silicon's empirically measured covalent atomic radii are 145 and 110 picometers respectively [1]. So 50pm is a very small bump indeed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_radius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_radius

roenxi 3y ago

The tech industry tends to fixate on the cutting edge. Global Foundries has process tech that is 10 years out of date (14nm). 14nm is fine, a lot of good chips were produced 10 years ago. If we optimistically assume that there are usually a few players in the market that are 10 years behind, that means many sellers will be at 3nm soon. TSMC is dominant, and we could imagine that in a wartime scenario maybe that'd matter (big maybe, why would a military need mass production of chips that didn't exist a few years ago?). But for anything else, capitalism will happen and 60% market share is impressive but not concerning. The current strategy of trying to restrict China's access to chips might easily spur some competition. > I'm wondering if there has been any time in history when so much of our critical technology in our world has been concentrated in so few producers. Nuclear bombs? And I'd assume this happens all the time. Any cutting edge market, in fact, seems like it should often start with one big player that has a better understanding of new research that is then slowly worn down by competition as the knowledge spreads.

krastanov 3y ago
Reusable orbital vehicles comes to mind as another current example. At least "mostly reusable".
neurostimulant 3y ago
I'm still using an intel i7-4790 (22nm process) on my primary small form factor desktop and it's perfectly fine for day-to-day computing. It can even run most games just fine after I stick the fastest slot-powered gpu I can find (RTX A2000).
quickthrower2 3y ago
AI processing power could certainly be a useful weapon in war.

user_named 3y ago

[flagged]

ansmithz42 3y ago
What!?!?!?!
- thoughtstheseus 3y ago
  The PRC and its people view Taiwan as part of China. It would be viewed by many as an invasion of China and clear interference with its sovereignty. If the U.S. dares to integrate its sensor, software, and shooter capabilities with Taiwan it should expect a forceful response from the PRC.

mekster 3y ago

This is the company that every dictator wants to have which can literally control the world if it wanted. It has so many of the electronics under its hostage, no one can make a deal if it went out of control, except by violence. Yet, still being a respected company is marvelous. Imagine how crap the world becomes if it comes under Chinese or Russian control.

YetAnotherNick 3y ago

If TSMC is the most advanced and other players are 2-3 years behind, by definition 100% of the most advanced would be produced by TSMC. And I think they are only talking about CPU or microcontroller, not all silicon.