Thread by @oraunak

Spoke about The Global Semiconductor Industry #ppfasfof helping myself understand how the industry works.

Video will be out soon @PPFAS Youtube Channel

Of course, had a lot of help from various sources.

Here's a 16-part thread about that journey...

2 - This is the path I chose to take while understanding the sector & its delicately balanced global supply chain of key technologies, manufacturers, vendors & customers.

3 - Had a lot of help along the way, especially from @DanielNenni (SemiWiki)'s book - Fabless.

A must read for anyone who wishes to save a lot of time to understand the history & the current state of the Global Semiconductor Industry.

amazon.in/Fabless-Transf…

4 - The ecosystem of
Chip Architecture > Chip Designers > Chip Makers > Testing & Packaging > Final Assembly

The meticulous journey from sand to semiconductors to fully functional electronic devices.

Briefly touched upon 20 global businesses & their business models.

5 - The team at NZS Capital & @jbathgate cover a lot of ground with far more engaging details about how the Semiconductor Industry works, something impossible to cover in my 1 hr presentation.
Learned a lot from them.
Thanks @RishiGosalia for this source.
nzscapital.com/news

6 - Worth listening to the conversation in this Podcast Episode with @manualofideas & @jbathgate about various trends in the Capital Cycles of The Chip Making Industry.

moiglobal.com/jon-bathgate-s…

7 - Chip Fabrication Foundries are the companies we normally never hear about because they are so good at making chips without any disruption.

The Economics to run a Foundry though, is not for the faint hearted.

8 - Speaking about companies we never hear about, how are some of these cutting edge chips actually made?

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C Clarke

Physics or Magic, hard to distinguish.
Thanks to @Seeker

9 - Another co. we don't hear about but good chance that the device you're reading this on has a chip that was manufactured by them.

Why does TSMC dominate the Contract Chip Making business?

A great playlist from Asianometry

youtube.com/playlist?list=…

10 - Chip shortages are all over the news, delaying all sorts of supply chains.
Why wasn't this problem anticipated?
Why are we seeing this now?

A very good book about the importance of infrastructure & how it only becomes visible when something breaks.

amazon.in/Sorting-Things…

11 - Knowledge of global supply chains is incomplete without understanding the geopolitical nature of its origin.

How Asia Works, provides a very good foundation to understand how some Asian countries became industrialised & became manufacturing giants.

amazon.in/How-Asia-Works…

12 - Some 🔑 questions to ask while learning about the geopolitics of Semiconductors Manufacturing.

Who owns the Intellectual Property & how it affects incremental manufacturing capacity?
Who has the courage & the capacity for new Capex?

13 - Where does India stand?
A great destination for Chip Design, Engg R&D but needs a push to enter into the race to build manufacturing capacity.

Some good guidelines from Indian Electronics & Semiconductor Association
iesaonline.org/information-hub

14 - New @GoI_MeitY initiative to attract Chip Manufacturing capacity is a great step to put India on the Global Semiconductor Map.

Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors
meity.gov.in/esdm/SPECS/

15 - US, an important source of Chip Intellectual Property, how has been their journey in Chip Manufacturing?

A good podcast episode about US economic policy around Chip Manufacturing. Then & Now.

https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1389185728869961728

16 - Finally, the ultimate source to understand these businesses, is their financial statements & disclosures.
Most of them have a long listing history & are covered well in the media.

Some great success stories & some gut wrenching consolidation & turnaround tales.