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.
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One needs some helium, but there are gas wells in Africa that could produce better soon. And refractory metals: lower metallization layers are W.
But yes, mostly energy, human attention, & IP.
Those EUV systems are driving a revolution in resist btw.
And old nodes still matter.
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