Semiconductors. Chips. Trade. Manufacturing. Technology. Investment.
New Upcoming Wave of Fabs.
New wave of chip manufacturing with newer technology.
What is the story with manufacturing resurgence in the USA.
Old Fabs.
Amongst the first chips built in the USA was Intel in 1965. At that time, chips were produced on 1.25-inch (30mm) wafers and it cost $1 million to build a fab.
Shockley Semi. Fairchild Semi. Intel. Texas Instruments. Motorola. Robert Noyce, Andy Grove and Gordon Moore with Moore’s Law.
Global. Intel built the first chip fab outside US in Penang Malaysia in 1972.
Locations. Most chips plants in the USA are located in California, Oregon, Arizona, Texas and New York. With one or two fabs in many other states.
Companies. These companies have a large number of existing fabs: Global Foundries, Intel, Texas Instruments, ON, NXP, Tower, Qorvo.
Will this lead to lower cost faster chips and the next wave of tech products. Companies are moving from 10 nm to 5 nm to 2 nm.
New Fabs.
New chip plants in USA.
Latest. The new fabs to be built are based on new smaller nanometer production. Based on new chip architectures and design. Based on new uses such as AI hardware.
Will lead to future deflation.
US Companies.
CHIPS act has pumped about $52 Billion.
Intel. Two plants in Columbus, Ohio. Two plants in Chandler, Arizona. Packaging in New Mexico.
Global Foundries. All new fab in Malta, New York. Plus expand Fab 8. Texas Instruments. New fab in Sherman, Texas. Micron. New chip plant in Clay, New York.
Others.
TSMC. 5nm fab in Phoenix, Arizona. Samsung. Old plant in Austin, Texas. New fab in Taylor, Texas.
Many semiconductor makers use the fabless model.
Outside US.
TSMC and Samsung are good competitors.
Taiwan. TSMC plans new fab in Kaohsiung. South Korea. Samsung to build five new fabs in Yongin. Singapore. UMC plans new fab. Japan. TSMC plans new fab in Kumamoto, Japan
India. Tower Semi in Karnataka. Foxconn, Vedanta in Gujarat. Foxconn in Telangana. Micron in Gujarat.
Europe.
France. ST Micro and Global Foundries. Italy. Also has plans. Germany. Intel in Magdeburg. Wolfspeed in Saarland. TSMC, Infineon in Dresden.
UK. Intel.
Countries are willing to invest in the latest chip manufacturing facilities.
Global Economy.
How does this affect the overall economy.
Global Climate Change. Chip plants consume a lot of water and electricity and contribute to pollution. Carbon production and effluents affect forest health, water table, natural resources and long term climate.
Trade War. Sanctions on Russia for ongoing war with Ukraine. Tech outsourcing to Ukraine is being affected. India buying Russian oil. Middle East OPEC+ supporting Russia. New Cold War in technology could emerge between China and USA.
US Economy.
Manufacturing Renaissance. US is less dependent on energy imports. Return of some manufacturing to USA. Reshoring or nearshoring, locally or close by. Low cost labor is being offset by quality, time and logistical issues. Also products under sanctions and countries under embargos.
Industry Sectors. Top imports to USA: computers, electrical machinery and equipment. Semiconductors have a huge impact in communications, computing, healthcare. transportation and energy industries. Crucial tech made locally increases security.
Emerging Tech. AI, Crypto and Metaverse industries require new and fast chips. As well as autonomous driving, electric cars and flying cars. The new software systems are increasing reliant on special hardware.
Chips affect Crypto, Metaverse, AI and every part of the economy and society.
Controversy.
Analyst report to The Information. NIST 2023 Report. Dylan Patel from semi research firm called SemiAnalysis.
Chips can be old or new design. Specialized or broad based. CPU or mem. Chips need equipment for lithography etching, wafer cutting, deposition. There is also a need for packaging, assembly and testing equipment.
TSMC is building a chip fab in Arizona without packaging. But if the chips need to be shipped to Taiwan for packaging then supply chains travel internationally. CHIPS Act includes funding for packaging. Apple is a big TSMC customer with volume discounts.
Replace union workers with less skilled Taiwanese workers. Talent is easier to find overseas.
Thank You !
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