Chipmakers study future of wafer-thin margins
Moore’s Law has been proven for more than 40 years as the chip industry has gone on making smaller chips at lower costs. Their improved performance has driven consumer demand, which has funded the big investments needed in new equipment for volume production.
Our Silicon Showdown series today looks at the current debate about the economic rather than scientific limits of Moore’s Law. But there is an addendum about the economics if the industry actually moves up a size. Read more
Jerry Maguire, the fictional sports agent played by Tom Cruise, summed up well the spirit of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s new Open Innovation Platform initiative.
“Help me . . . help you,” Mr Maguire implored his one remaining client in the 1996 film.
Morris Chang, founder and recently chief executive again of the world’s biggest contract chip maker, has a far larger network of customers than Mr Maguire but found himself preaching the same message this week when he addressed clients at TSMC’s annual technology symposium.
“We don’t want to play a zero-sum game with our clients”, the 77 year-old Mr Chang told them. Read more
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Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
