USA is investing in semi-conductor manufacturing, big-time!

If I trust some stranger on the internet, it would appear the USA is spending big-time in computer/electronic/electrical (whatever that means)

Source: https://twitter.com/JosephPolitano/status/1742201310693183778

I took a quick look at the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act

There are a few silicon carbide projects on the list. Perhaps lower cost SiC diodes & FETs are just around the corner.

Great work USA!

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bradfordmiller over 1 year ago

www.cato.org/.../industrial-policy-bad-idea-back
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scottiebabe over 1 year ago

Microchip Technology used to do everything inhouse, R&D, wafer fab, test, assembly for a lot of their products.

Looks like they still manufacture 40% inhouse

https://www.microchip.com/content/dam/mchp/documents/financial/annual/fy22/pdf/Form%2010-K%20Filed%205-20-2022.pdf

I don't think they are going to fabricate modern FPGAs and exotic 32/64-bit microcontrollers inhouse, but who knows...
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scottiebabe over 1 year ago in reply to bradfordmiller

Very interesting read, thanks for sharing. I liked the reference to the CRAY supercomputer!
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phoenixcomm over 1 year ago in reply to bradfordmiller

bradfordmiller cool read. ~~ Cris H.
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baldengineer over 1 year ago in reply to scottiebabe

Does that figure include packaging? Since they specifically mention "wafer foundry," it makes me think they are not including it.

I don't know what the state of the industry is today, but it was very common to outsource silicon fabrication but continue to do packaging (and final test) in-house.

I even heard some US manufacturers will use money from CHIPS to continue to fabricate the silicon elsewhere but focus on bringing (or advancing) innovative packaging techniques back to US plants.
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dougw over 1 year ago in reply to bradfordmiller

Government has often failed to achieve their objectives when "investing" in industry, but there are usually private spinoff benefits from pouring money into a sector.

ARM probably wouldn't exist without a lot of government funding initiatives. Silicon valley might be a very different place if there hadn't been massive government infusion in the area (Stanford) during WW2. I wouldn't call NASA profitable, but a lot of technology has come out of NASA.
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me_Cris over 1 year ago

I just hope that the shipping costs to the rest of the world are not high.
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robogary over 1 year ago

Government supplying funding after realizing shortages caused by covid and seeing industries , like automotive, at the mercy of imports.
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bradfordmiller over 1 year ago in reply to dougw

This is the "socialize risks, privatize profits" model of (mis)governance. Which tends to lead to "crony capitalism" as certain popular providers and sectors get the free (well taxpayer) loot, and others have to contend with increased costs. It can yield impressive results once in a while, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

The question is what is more likely to lead to a beneficial and cost-effective result: a mandarin's opinion divorced from monetary discipline, or the predictions produced by a marketplace of individuals (who at the end of the day, really don't want to buy pennies of benefits for dollars of cost).
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dang74 over 1 year ago in reply to robogary

I am with you. I too believe this stems from the early stages of Covid when the U.S. suddenly saw the results of 50 years of outsourcing and just how much manufacturing capability was lost in that time. Part of me also thinks this is contingency in case China reclaims Taiwan.
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