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> Apple, Nvidia, and Google all have significant chip manufacturing operations No, they all (as well as AMD) all have significant chip designing operations. No
by xethos 1y ago
> Apple, Nvidia, and Google all have significant chip manufacturing operations
No, they all (as well as AMD) all have significant chip designing operations. Not one of them can actually fabricate their own chips. Every single one of them must speak to TSMC or Samsung if they want to take their designs from the whiteboard to the physical world.
- anonfordays 1y agoAmazes me how many self-proclaimed "techies" don't know this simple fact.
- jajko 1y agoYou would be amazed how many seemingly basic things about this world and IT you don't know... a bit of humility goes much longer way than this.
- anonfordays 1y agoIf I don't know something, I don't make statements such as "Apple, Nvidia, and Google all have significant chip manufacturing operations..." a bit of humility goes much longer way than this.
- jajko 1y agoI don't think you understood my post
- anonfordays 1y agoNor did you understand mine.
- srvo 1y agoThanks for clarifying! I misspoke there, but from my standpoint (portfolio manager/equities investor) that's better. Wafer fabs are capital intensive, complex, and need constant retooling. The bulk of the commercial value lives in the stuff you do on your whiteboard. From a geopolitical standpoint, I'll concede there's value in having the ability to actually make the stuff without acceding to the duopoly. But I'd still rather see the capital invested in basic research which might change the capital dynamics of the industry in the intermediate to long term.
- disgruntledphd2 1y ago> Thanks for clarifying! I misspoke there, but from my standpoint (portfolio manager/equities investor) that's better. From a national security point it really, really isn't. Like, I'm not a fan of the Trump administration, but having basically all chip manufacturing in Asia is not a good idea if you think there'll be a war with China in the next few decades.
- kasey_junk 1y agoThe CHIPs act passed Congress during the Biden administration. The only thing Trump added was this weird non-elected post hoc equity grab.
- LeafItAlone 1y ago>but having basically all chip manufacturing in Asia is not a good idea if you think there'll be a war with China in the next few decades. I see this a lot, but I’m not smart enough to understand it. The US still has immense military power. Is the suggestion China/Asian is going to make the US so desperate for lack of chips that they use this power? Whether the manufacturing plants exist in Texas or Taiwan, the US military basically ensures they exist. And if that supply is cut off and that is forecasted to be the turning point of a war, then with a figurative push of a button, the US military makes sure that other countries also don’t have chip manufacturers (i.e. blows them up). Similarly, other countries can target plants on US soil if war breaks out anyways. I don’t see a war coming to that point or to the US losing access to chip manufacturing because of one. What don’t I understand from this angle? That said, I do think it’s important for the US to have their own chip manufacturing on shore. Not as some protective measure over some combat war, but (1) to ensure less possible influence from foreign governments and decrease likelihood of possible backdoors or intentional sabotage and (2) to protect against other factors from shutting down the facilities, like natural disasters.
- petralithic 1y agoThis is quite a naive take, sorry to say. It is absolutely true that a war is brewing in East Asia, part of the explicit intent being to control other countries' chip usage. This is the same sort of argument that was used during World War I when the major powers said there'd never be a war on the continent because every country was interconnected in commerce and culture, and well, it turns out that reasons for war aren't always rational.