CHIP WAR PA: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology

During the war in Vietnam, the American forces in a bombing campaign named ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’, stretched from 1965 to 1968, dropped over eight hundred thousand tons of bombs, more than was dropped in the Pacific Theater during all of World War II. This had little impact on North Vietnam’s military, since most of the bombs missed their target. Whereas, on January 17, 1991, two US F-117s stealth bombers, took off from their airbase in Saudi Arabia and released two two-thousand-pound LASER-GUIDED bombs on the twelve-storey telephone exchange building on Baghdad’s Rashid Street, scoring direct hits, knocking out Iraq’s critical communications center. Simultaneously, 116 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from US naval ships offshore slammed into their targets; military command posts, air force headquarters and power stations, with pin point accuracy. The Iraqi military was in shock, disorganised and in retreat as the world watched these events from the comfort of their homes on CNN. The silicon chip had won the Iraqi war. This book is the fascinating story of this powerful technology that has structured our history and will shape our future. It is also unique in the sense that it covers multiple facets of the highly complex Silicon Chip; Technological, Historical, Commercial, Global and Strategic. Firstly, it traces the birth of the semi-conductor technology, starting from 1945, when William Shockley first theorised what he called a ‘solid state valve’. On the afternoon of December 16,1947, the first rudimentary semiconductor device was switched on successfully at Bell Labs’ headquarters by John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. The “transistor” was born. Soon Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby were credited for inventing the first ‘Integrated Circuit’. ‘Moore’s law’ laid the foundation for the exponential growth of the power of the silicon chip. Next is the excellent description of the entire global value chain and the companies involved in leadership positions at critical points. Chip design is led in the USA by companies like Apple, AMD, Intel, Amazon, TI, IBM, TESLA, Facebook, Nvidia and Google and these form the architecture or blueprint of the circuit on the silicon chip. Silicon chip manufacture is a capital-intensive operation costing over USD 20 billion, with short lifespans (high Clock Speeds) and hence independent chip manufacturers share their capacities across multiple customers to quickly absorb costs. Since chip assembly was labor intensive, it was off-shored to locations like Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia. Soon Taiwan led by TSMC (founded by Morris Chang), emerged the global leader in chip fabrication. ASLM of Netherlands has over 80 percent market share in the EUV (Extreme Ultra-violet Lithography) technology that enables ‘printing’ of miniature circuits, as thin as 3 nanometers. Intel’s decision to exit from DRAM chips and enter logic chips is the story of ‘Only the Paranoid Survive’, once again brought in with a refreshing touch. Though ‘Moore’s Law’ is technically coming to its limit in terms of the density of transistors in a chip, the computing power of the chip is expected to rise at least a hundred-fold, thanks to new technologies like 3D FinFET transistors and ‘gate-all-around’. We realise the importance of the silicon chip, and in its absence all our appliances, cars, power stations and even a toaster would not function. In addition, as demonstrated in the Gulf War of 1991, silicon chips make the difference on the battlefield. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is another example. Ukraine, with smart shoulder fired missiles like the Javelin that are guided by 20 silicon chips are able to effortlessly knock out Russia’s heavy armor and tanks. The sudden shortage of silicon chips in 2021 has awakened the world on the importance of this industry, the concentration of manufacturing and global choke points that need to be de-risked. While the cold war between USA and Russia is over, China is now a threat to the US military. China is in an envious position of being the biggest threat, and yet the biggest customer of US technology, importing more chips than oil. China has its eyes firmly on Taiwan and the Taiwan strait is militarily the most strategic theatre, should there be a conflict. Taiwan is a great temptation, since it manufactures 37 percent of all chips, and perhaps 80 percent of all high-end chips. Attempts by US to restrict export of latest chips to China have met with limited success. The chapter ‘Assault on Huawei’ narrates the US policy response to check the technological threat from China. The story of the chip is not over. With GPU, AI, 5G and many more advanced technologies, this is only the beginning of a new digital era. Not many books are so engaging, informative and thought-provoking. Exceptionally good.

“Chip War” is a detailed documentation of the history of silicon ships covering the early days of the industry and the early years of companies such as Texas Instruments and Intel, the attempts of countries such as Russia to emulate the American success, Japan’s (mainly Sony’s) rise, US’ eventual dominance, the emergence of Taiwan as an offshore centre and ending with the current geopolitical implications entering around China and Taiwan. The breadth of the book is tremendous, and Miller manages to cover it in about 350 crisp pages without skimping on the important details. The only complaint I had was that a major portion of the book is largely like a historical narrative on the subject, not surprising given Miller’s background as a historian. For someone like me who’s been a stock market analyst in the technology sector, most of the information was not new. But even then, there were these little nuggets of information, the small insights into events and people that took the industry forward and some interesting anecdotes that compensated for this. Also, the last part of the book which covers the future implications of this race between the US and China to get the upper hand in this area, exacerbated by China’s intent to eschew economic integration, constitutes a well-written opinion piece. Overall, “Chip War” is a fascinating read for all, easily understood by readers new to the topic and with enough nuggets to satisfy even those familiar with the topic. Jerry Sanders, co-founder of AMD, had famously said that semiconductors were the crude oil of the 1980s. Since then, their importance has only grown and one could argue that the outcome of this chip war has the potential to influence the future of individual countries and even humankind, making it an incredibly relevant topic and the book an interesting read. Pros: The breadth of coverage of the topic, interesting factoids and anecdotes, insightful discussion into the current and potential geopolitical implications Cons: May drag a bit in places for readers familiar with the subject

Nice book to have .

Chip war gave a clear idea where and how semiconductors started and how it is progressing. Thanks for the insights the author gave as to how the leading companies are placed in semi conductors.. The last few chapters were little boring, as I knew what happened in the last 10-15 years.. but initial days were simply awesome. Sometimes reading history brings happiness and kudos to the author for bringing them with such impeccable clarity! Thanks CNBC for suggesting the book when I was seeing an episode on ASML and EUV!

It’s a well-researched and deeply informative read that walks through the semiconductor labyrinth — political influence, rise and fall of corporates, Government fundings, intellectual property battles, espionage, and innovation. Having spent over 25 years in the semiconductor industry, I could connect so many dots while reading. For me, this book reads like a True novel on Chips. If you’re in the semiconductor field, I’d highly recommend read of this one. can not agree more with the Author “The future of war will be defined by computing power.”

Interesting and very informative book on semiconductor chips. The author has provided detailed glossary and explanatory notes about various terms, products and processes for easy understanding. A very detailed analysis of how these chips shape current global affairs, balance of military power and structure of world economy. The book is excellent.

I just finished reading this. This is easily one of the best books I have read in past few years. This tells the story of semiconductors industry from the beginning. How one of the mankind’s greatest innovations has been a playgoud of geopolitical power over last century. From Silicon Valley to rise of japan. From Taiwan’s entry into advanced manufacturing to tension between china and US to win silicon race. This also talks about companies like Intel , TSML, huwai, IBM, NVIDIA and how they are shaping computing for the world. Authors writing is fast paced and the subject matter is well researched. It’s a must read for every techie and non techie alike.

Invention of semiconductor chip . How it transformed individual life .. how it affecting world politics .. many questions answered and many gets created while reading this book. Inter dependence on one country over other ..we get to see true globalisation .. a new world oder centred on chip. How US try to controlled the world via this chip business and china want to become self reliant about chip business.. how Russia used spycraft .. china murky business practices to gain the chip business in their control. And the centre of it is Taiwan capturing the 50 percent of market. So many insights about smartphone which lifted this business to new height. Worth and important read

- Chip wars, tell us a story of something that has become dominant in our current age, of how the technological digital revolution has literally revolutionised our world using small chips, which contain the ability to power a whole computer, on a chip that is smaller by in size than a third of a fingernail. How we have from moved from something that was used to take up whole rooms and offices in a factory floor, can now be fitted onto something so small. The fact that the story is told in such a thrilling and exciting way that keeps you gripped is a masterpiece because it really is a thrilling story learning how they all these chips (or semiconductor transmitter chips) came about, and how we got here. - A chip is a small piece of semiconducting material, usually silicone, with millions or billions of microscopic transistors carved into it. It is also known as an ‘integrated circuit’ or ‘semiconductor. We rarely think about chips, yet they've created the modern world. At the core of computing is the need for many millions of ones and zeros, of which the entire digital universe consists of. Around a quarter of the chips industry’s revenue comes from phones, which pays for the semiconductors inside. - All around us and everything that we use, from washing machines to cars, missiles, and rockets, as well as your mobile phone and computer, are all controlled by chips. The book really illuminates and enlightens through a fascinating history of how we’ve moved from the industrial age to the digital age and at such a phenomenal speed. The book explains how digital transmitter chips have evolved, moving from transistors to chips that can use something smaller than you nail to power an entire computer. It’s amazing to think it took 1.2 million years before someone put a handle on to an axe, 66 years separated the first flight and putting a man on the moon – the internet has only been around for less than 16000 days. - The book explains the fascinating history and evolution that now power and generate so many different things that we just take for granted. And yet the moral of the story is how America led the way in creating and transforming these chips into something remarkable that could be used in so many ways. Slowly they succeeded power to the manufacturers of Japan and Taiwan, who are now the only people that can create these chips. America lost its way, and this book explains how that occurred. The Financial Times declared this as a business book of the year. And its why China wants control over Taiwan. China now spends more money each year importing chips than it spends of oil. We might not think much about chips, but they’ve created the modern world in which we now live in. - Moore’s Law predicted that the computing power on each chip would double every couple of years. America gave the world chips and created them, starting with turning chips upside down and viewing them through a microscope to be able to see the features more clearly, that they could then make smaller and with smaller transistor chips led to a device that has allowed the world to use resources that power the world more effectively, more cheaply and more effectively. - We are so reliant now on chips that support pocket calculators to the car that you're driving, the aeroplane that you're flying in, the air-conditioning in a room, the computer on your phone and yet if Taiwan suffered a major earthquake (its happened) or a Chinese invasion, then we would be set back years. However, reading the book also shows that China would have to be suicidally crazy to attack Taiwan. - I put off reading this for a while as I thought it would be dull but when I started to read, I found the subject fascinating. I now know that there are more chips made every day than the amounts of cells that make up the human body. There are now microscopic transistors that are far smaller than a human cell (you can fit thousands of cells on a pin head). Today, advanced chips possess tiny, three-dimensional transistors, each smaller than a coronavirus, measuring a handful of manometers (billionths of a meter) wide – and you can fit 100 million viral particles of the coronavirus on a pinhead. The semiconductor industry now produces more transistors each day than there are cells in the human body (approximately 30 trillion human cells make up the human body). - I found this an interesting and absolutely gripping book about subject that I thought be as dry as a bone but made me feel more secure about the quality of chips, say in my car – there are rockets passing Pluto and still sending back messages and flying through our solar system and still sending messages back to planet Earth.

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Wow. Easily the best book I've read in recent memory. It's like an entertaining and engaging textbook on the history of the global semiconductor industry including unique and brilliant personalities, global geopolitics, and miraculous scientific and engineering advancements and inventions. It's a must-read for anyone who is interested in the tech and AI world, or is an investor in this space. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Very impressive and well written. A cracking good insight into the history, the politics and the global implications. Easy to read, well written and fascinating. Leaves you with a FAR better understanding of what is shaping our world and global investments

Chip War is a well timed history of semiconductor manufacturing and the intellectual currents that drove offshoring as well as bring concern over national security. The book is both historically informative as well as currently illuminating for thinking about the current US - China frictions on semiconductor manufacturing. One can learn about the pioneers of the industry and the history of government involvement as well as the cycles of intellectual property concerns. Chip War is both highly relevant for better understanding today's world of widening geopolitical fault lines as well as contextualizing how similar and or different things are today vs the past. The book starts out something along the lines of Walter Isaacson's Innovators giving the history of silicon valley and the discovery of transistor by Bardeen and Brattain, and then Shockley. The key characters who built up Silicon Valley and the entrepreneurial spirit that they embodied is highlighted so that one gets a sense of the early days in the valley. The competitiveness but also fluidity of the system led to significant innovation in the early days and the author gives a picture of the ecosystem. The first construction of the integrated circuit is discussed and the early development of logic chips is highlighted. The author is quick to highlight that copying technology is no route to success as its not technical knowledge but process expertise which is critical, understanding how to scale the business and increase yields is the key to consumer businesses which are critical for true scale. The Soviet Union attempted to catch up on semi-conductors via espionage which was a strategy destined for failure and the author gives the strong reminder that innovation is what drives the business not replication. At the early stages of the tech revolution the US dominated but was insulated from competition. The author moves on to the world as the conditions changed and Japan caught up. At first it was licensing technology on lower end goods but with Sony and others the tech gap narrowed and it looked like Japan was on the track to outpace the US. The US appeared to be lagging a more disciplined competitor with subsidized capital that was more cost competitive. Thus the reader gets a reminder that tech competition is not new and there is a strong reminiscence today of the competition with Japan in the 80s. Ultimately the concerns about Japan were overblown and eventually the US regained its intellectual lead where its competitive edge was strongest but with the exception of Micron, tech hardware manufacturing was slowly moving offshore. The author then moved on to the origins of TSMC and a little bit on Samsung. In particular for TSMC one learns that Morris Chang, founder of TSMC was a TI executive and not actually Taiwanese. Nonetheless the story of the rise of Taiwan in the tech supply chain is discussed and the relevance of the ambiguity with regards to China completely overlooked. The era of offshoring was the era of globalization where cost efficiencies were what determined capex decisions and the US government was not in the business of subsidizing capital despite the rest of Asia fully embracing that. The author moves on to China and the growth of a new kind of competitor. This competition was not as concerning until the last decade. Huawei is discussed as is the IP theft from Micron and the challenges of moving up the curve is highlighted with the lack of progress by SMIC. Chip Wars does a good job of bringing in the need of cutting edge processes for military dominance and the greater frictions that are arising due to these security concerns with China that were absent with prior competitions. The disregard of intellectual property is also highlighted through the Micron fiasco where Chinese courts used their system to blackmail Micron, though this backfired. Finally the author moves on to EUV and the astronomical complexity of the manufacturing process. The true complexity is used to show the fundamental challenge of trying to fast track your way to the cutting edge of tech hardware manufacturing. It is also used to highlight the truly global collaborative environment that was embraced to develop the technology and that same environment also led to offshore from the US without a concern. We are now in a new era where supply chain stability is being reconsidered as more important than supply chain cost. For technology this has big repercussions. On the margin we can certainly see the reverberations with the chip equipment export constraints and it is likely that these are used on a continued basis to manage competition in a fundamentally different way than in the past. To understand the history so that one can better appreciate the context, Chip War is a must read.