Open Letter to Musk: ‘Just Shut Up and Build Cars and Rockets’
We were ready to anoint you the Leonardo Da Vinci of our age. And then you blew it. How could it go so wrong?
Opinion
A Certain Semiconductor in Uncertain Times
By Jean-Christophe Eloy, Yole Group (in collaboration with Poshun Chiu and Ezgi Dogmus, analysts at Yole Intelligence, part of Yole Group)
What’s at stake?
Thanks to automotive electrification, the silicon carbide semiconductor market is witnessing unprecedented growth, with industry players jostling for position. Big questions we ponder are who are best positioned to lead the SiC device market and who will eventually acquire whom.
TSMC Founder Morris Chang Is Wrong, Globalization (Only) Needs a Reset
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake?
A more balanced distribution of semiconductor fabs across the world does not signal the beginning of the end of globalization. True globalization entails not just production efficiency but also the creation of resilient and flexible supply chains. Achieving that goal requires distributed rather than concentrated production.
Morris Chang is no ordinary icon. In the semiconductor industry, Chang has few peers, dead or alive.
Chang has been right about so much – the fabless semiconductor manufacturing model is his most notable call – that contradicting him can be a daunting task. But contradict him we must on the topic of globalization, which he addressed recently in Arizona.
Intel: Why Gelsinger Should Become CEO of Foundry Business
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake?
Patrick Gelsinger has championed the transition of Intel into a manufacturing and foundry giant. As part of that process, he should take over as CEO of Intel Foundry Services and take charge of its future. Pending a possible spin off, Intel should name a separate CEO for the client computing, datacenter and AI, network and edge and accelerated computing systems and graphics businesses.
Dissecting Rapidus, Japan’s Shiny New Chip Project
When Japan announced late last week a national project to launch a semiconductor company dubbed Rapidus, backed by the country’s biggest companies in partnership with IBM, I suspect I was not alone when I groaned, “Not again.”
Many understand that Japan loves ambitious long-term R&D projects. These national initiatives provide a pretext for ministry officials to goad Japanese corporations into pooling their resources to create new technologies. The point is to keep Japan competitive in advanced technologies.
Read More »Dissecting Rapidus, Japan’s Shiny New Chip Project
Failure to Communicate: Backing Away From China’s ‘Overreach’
If, as China watchers emphasize, Beijing desires respect above all else, it must earn that respect by adhering to international norms on issues ranging from market access to intellectual property rights.
Read More »Failure to Communicate: Backing Away From China’s ‘Overreach’
Tale of Two Chip Wars: First Japan, Then China
As a cub reporter in Tokyo in 1992, I covered the U.S.-Japan chip war. Living now in the U.S., I’m watching America’s latest chip war with China building steam like a slow-motion train wreck.
In both conflicts, the U.S. goal is defending its lead in technology innovation, while hobbling its rival’s rapid advances.
Read More »Tale of Two Chip Wars: First Japan, Then China
Autonomous Driving: Taxis, Toasters, Trucks and Trillions
If the shuttering of Argo AI marked the end of the beginning, the beginning of the end is the realization that technological development in the automotive industry is always an iterative process.
Argo AI’s Demise Reveals Automakers’ AV Miscues
What’s at stake?
What went wrong with Argo AI is the wrong question. Rather: What’s up with Argo’s investors? What outcome did investors Ford and Volkswagen expect? Were they prepared to play the long game? Most important, do they understand what it takes to build a highly automated vehicle that’s both sexy and safe?
As the enthusiasm of its largest investors–Ford and Volkswagen–for autonomous vehicles waned, Argo AI’s fate was sealed.
Read More »Argo AI’s Demise Reveals Automakers’ AV Miscues
China’s Startup Army is Being Disarmed
Beijing’s attempts to create a complete technology ecosystem, including extended supply chains for semiconductor design, production and packaging, are being boxed in on a number of fronts.