Avieshek OP t1_j07j4tx wrote
Reply to comment by Leanardoe in Japan to Manufacture 2nm Chips With a Little Help From IBM by Avieshek
With Japanese precision? Neat.
Eedat t1_j0856s9 wrote
Isn't the US in the process of building a giant manufacturing plant as well?
navigationallyaided t1_j086uz6 wrote
Intel is building a new fab near Columbus, OH. TSMC is building a new facility in Arizona - there is already an Intel fab in Chandler and I think Microchip has one in Tempe or Nogales. Samsung Austin fabs non-NAND/DRAM silicon.
The actual chip “packaging” - mounting it onto a substrate or encasing it in plastic and ceramic after attaching lead wires and pins/solder pads will still happen overseas - Intel does this in Costa Rica/Philippines, Samsung ships Austin silicon back to Korea or China, and China/Korea/Vietnam/Mexico/Philippines are were silicon is packaged.
BigMikeATL t1_j087rrt wrote
Yup. The Intel plant in Chandler is currently undergoing a $20B expansion. That’s in addition to the new TSMC plant.
Samsung is also building a huge semiconductor plant in Texas.
navigationallyaided t1_j08hvik wrote
Intel also has a fab in Hillsboro - but I haven’t heard plans for it.
The eventual goal with the new C-suite at Intel - they want to be a contract supplier. Many of the current IC companies who make important components or even whole systems like Qualcomm, Marvell, Nvidia, AMD and Apple don’t have their own fabs - TSMC and Samsung are doing that. I can see Apple and Intel becoming frenemies, much like the Apple-Samsung relationship. Companies that do work with the military or critical infrastructure might be compelled to have chips fabbed in the US as a matter of national security.
Unaninu t1_j0bpaur wrote
The one in Hillsboro is literally their main fab, where all the R&D and magic happens and where all the other fab will "copy exactly".
Orome2 t1_j09ddan wrote
They are also building a new fab at the existing site in Rio Rancho, NM.
he_who_melts_the_rod t1_j09qcl7 wrote
Completely refitting fab 9.
SargeInCharge t1_j0a1gay wrote
Don't forget Micron's new $15 billion plant in Boise
navigationallyaided t1_j0aczhs wrote
And that coincided with the tail end of IMFT - the Intel-Micron NAND joint venture. Intel saw Optane as the new hotness, high-bandwidth X-point NAND that was supposed to be paired with a mechanical SSD; the Windows version of Apple’s Fusion Drive.
It was a flop, much like Intel’s gamble on Rambus RDRAM 20 years ago - and Samsung took the NAND world by storm with their 3D V-NAND.
Kongsley t1_j094vlv wrote
>Microchip has one in Tempe or Nogales.
Lol Microchip doesn't belong on the same list as Intel, TSMC, and Samsung.
navigationallyaided t1_j099kpb wrote
You’d be shocked - anything that requires RF, like car key fobs, gate/garage remotes and discrete power/timing/IO, chances are those components are coming from Microchip, Intersil, ST Micro, ADC and National Semiconductor. Part of the electronics shortage - plenty of the “big” chips like DRAM/NAND, CPUs/GPUs/SoCs but not enough of the supporting cast like RF/discrete power/IO/networking/timing/battery monitoring - those are all specialized ICs that don’t use the latest and greatest process tech but have an important supporting role.
Kongsley t1_j09d1jl wrote
Yes, thank you for understanding and providing a list of manufacturers that Microchip does belong on.
PasswordisP4ssword t1_j08frtd wrote
I don't think there are any N2 plants planned.
NutGoblin2 t1_j08l0wg wrote
Process node is just a marketing name
navigationallyaided t1_j087a65 wrote
IBM has been in Japan for a while - the ThinkPad was designed at their Japanese operations. Lenovo has since bought out those facilities. I think they have a silicon fab there and the PowerPC architecture they developed along with Motorola was used heavily by the Japanese automakers and in gaming consoles.
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