I should try and visit Taiwan soon. Seems to have become the center of the world suddenly. 🤔
Software eats world
Software wants chips
Chips want latest node
Latest node only in Taiwan
Taiwan eats world*
*... though, the west still makes the *equipment* needed to run the fabs
Conversation
There’s TSMC fabs in China and the US as well, but the bottleneck equipment bit is EUV machines that are made by ASML in the Netherlands, though Japanese companies are getting into it.
Replying to
Taiwan-China is the new Israel-Arab countries.
But unlike oil, semiconductors is almost entirely about IP, since raw material is sand. Good sand, but hardly as critical as oil.
Kinda like aircraft. Many countries have learned to make airframes but jet engines are still hard.
2
1
9

