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Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

intc.com

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Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#31

Post by MichaelApproved »

graderjs wrote: post #17

Scooped you by 21 hours: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30344944 I think this comment will be downvoted, but just want to run the experiment to be sure. I'll delete if so .. No worries.

Since you’re conducting an experiment, I’ll provide my feedback. Usually I’d downvote a simple comment talking about being first to post but you also provided a link to the previous discussion which I thought was worth upvoting.

Regarding the talk of downvotes, I’d usually downvote for all the classic reasons but you turned it into an experiment which will spark discussion, so that’s an extra reason to upvote.

I take my upvote/downvote powers very seriously. Or maybe a bit too seriously?

Edit: after making this comment I clicked and saw your post got no comments, so I must now consider it to be a “simple” comment with little value.

Hmmmm. I guess I’ll just take back my upvote but refrain from downvoting.

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#32

Post by graderjs »

ginko wrote: post #27
graderjs wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No I think it's helpful in these cases where I'm just trying to learn about the community. Heh, we probably ought to avoid continuing to talk about and make a thread about it here :) But maybe there's some useful distinctions to be made. I think the times where's it's bad is if I go, "Don't downvote..." or "Downvotes are idiots" or whatever...Here I'm just honestly being like, I think this will be a "low value" comme…

I downvoted you because I do think your comment does add little to the discussion other than "I posted it first!", which isn't all that interesting all things considered. It just seems bitter.

That's what I thought people would feel, and why I said I thought it would be downvoted. But thanks for letting me that's what you think anyway!

I don't like to admit it because of how silly and weak I think it looks, but, yep I did feel it was unfair and I was showing a little bitterness there--correctly identified, ginko!--I felt sad about it, like "why no upvotes for me?"--but also posted it with a goodnatured thing too, like "I scooped you! But you got the votes!" which can always be a dynamic with news scoops. It was both, you know. And I don't really think it's unfair, because it's basically random how a post gets up. Plus, Haaretz has a paywall, maybe that contributes too...But you always wonder, you know...heh :) Thanks for adding to my shame there, ginko :edit: Oh, I see you got downvoted. Poor you. That's very meta.

edit 2: Ooh, I see the original post has been flagged. I definitely think we should stop talking about it now, heh! OMG let's stop please! :)

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#33

Post by graderjs »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #31
graderjs wrote: post #17

Scooped you by 21 hours: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30344944 I think this comment will be downvoted, but just want to run the experiment to be sure. I'll delete if so .. No worries.

Since you’re conducting an experiment, I’ll provide my feedback. Usually I’d downvote a simple comment talking about being first to post but you also provided a link to the previous discussion which I thought was worth upvoting. Regarding the talk of downvotes, I’d usually downvote for all the classic reasons but you turned it into an experiment which will spark discussion, so that’s an extra reason to upvote. I take…

Hehe, thank you for the comprehensive thinking portrayal. I really like that. I also take the down/upvotes thing seriously. And when I first got the power really didn't want to use it to down people even if they were really mean or I really disagreed. I try to upvote people who add information or a good feeling, but I still rarely downvote. At first I rarely upvoted as well...but now a lot more.

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#34

Post by sanxiyn »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #26
jabl wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intel Foundry Services (IFS) is marketing themselves as the only fab capable of producing all three of x86, Arm, and RISC-V. Back when Intel had a process advantage over everybody else I guess it made strategic sense for them to not let others use their process. Now when that process lead is gone, refusing to fab chips for non-x86 ISA's just means those customers will go elsewhere.

> Intel Foundry Services (IFS) is marketing themselves as the only fab capable of producing all three of x86, Arm, and RISC-V. Capable? From the fab point of view, all three of those are just rectangles.

I mean, same rectangles won't work for different foundries. It is saying we have these IP cores tested and working with the process.

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#35

Post by sanxiyn »

gigatexal wrote: post #24

Is this Intel’s PASemi moment or something entirely different? Remember PASemi were the folks Apple bought that gave us the A series chips and made Apple the chip powerhouse it is today.

I think it's entirely different. Tower is a specialty foundry.

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#36

Post by emteycz »

syshum wrote: post #21
nisegami wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kinda spooky how much of the cutting edge semiconductor fabs are in disputed territories...

they are purposely built their for Geo-political reasons, to ensure those area's stay "disputed"

Or the disputed places make unusual investments due to their status?

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#37

Post by chrisjc »

> manufactures integrated circuits using specialty process technologies, including SiGe, BiCMOS, SOI, mixed-signal and RFCMOS, CMOS image sensors, non-imaging sensors, power management, and non-volatile memory

Aren't these the kinds of technologies used to produce the kinds of chips that are in great shortage atm?

Or perhaps a better way of stating what I'm trying to say is... aren't these the kinds of technologies that could be used to produce chips that can replace those that are in great shortage atm?

Not as dependent on highly advanced lithography machinery from the likes of ASML, but not so ancient as those that have recently stopped churning out the same basic chips after 20-30 years.

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#38

Post by MangoCoffee »

throwaway4good wrote: post #13
lnsru wrote: post #11

When reading headline I was thinking about Intel removing its competitor. Then I searched a bit and found this: “ Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is an Israeli company that manufactures integrated circuits using specialty process technologies, including SiGe, BiCMOS, SOI, mixed-signal and RFCMOS, CMOS image sensors, non-imaging sensors, power management, and non-volatile memory as well as MEMS capabilities.” Looks like that…

So it is some kind of complement to Intel's business? By the price Intel is paying compared to Tower's revenue, it really sounds like Intel is paying a lot without being able to add anything?!

Intel is paying for a foot into the foundry business door.

https://ir.towerjazz.com/static-files/fc758c75-c7fd-4f87-9d1...

looking at the latest report. Tower is like TSMC for specialty chip. i think this will be great if Intel want to go all in on IDM 2.0

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#39

Post by smoldesu »

the-dude wrote: post #3
spupe wrote: post #2

Intel has a clear strategy of becoming a big player in the semiconductor industry in the next decade. I honestly think it will work. Many people have observed that it is a cash-intensive industry with tiny margins, but once these huge investments have been made and there are only two or three companies that can dominate the market for five to ten years, you can extract huge value before any competitor catches up.

This comment could have been written 50 years ago.

And they still would have been right?

Re: Intel to Acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B

#40

Post by smoldesu »

graderjs wrote: post #32
ginko wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I downvoted you because I do think your comment does add little to the discussion other than "I posted it first!", which isn't all that interesting all things considered. It just seems bitter.

That's what I thought people would feel, and why I said I thought it would be downvoted. But thanks for letting me that's what you think anyway! I don't like to admit it because of how silly and weak I think it looks, but, yep I did feel it was unfair and I was showing a little bitterness there--correctly identified, ginko!--I felt sad about it, like "why no upvotes for me?"--but also posted it with a goodnatured thi…

You're not exactly Babe Ruth calling the shot on this one. If you post something that isn't intellectually gratifying and purely petty, then yes, you're going to be downvoted on Hacker News.

If you posted something along the lines of "Here's the version that isn't paywalled" or "this article has a more interesting analysis", people wouldn't have dogpiled you. Instead, you buried the lede and mentioned some pseudo-experiment, which isn't going to get a lot of traction around here. If you want to endlessly fight with people over attribution credits and updoot points, you'd probably get a real kick out of Reddit.

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