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Apple is America's semiconductor problem

semiconductor-digest.com

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Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#221

Post by ankit219 »

SkiFire13 wrote: post #175
ankit219 wrote: post #107

A weird article. Apple was not the first or the only company to look to East Asia for cheap manufacturing, elctronic equipments, chips, or cheap labor. The trend was started and accelerated by motor companies and hardware just followed suit. Then, some other points are just...there. Apple is America's semiconductor problem because Apple is so big it purchases things in bulk and gets discounts - like every other big c…

> because no one else had the designs ready Do you have a source for this?

https://technode.com/2024/03/27/tsmc-sees-strong-demand-for-...

Right now there are three. Intel, Apple, and AMD. In 2022, there was one.

Samsung manufactured for Qualcomm who were in testing phase.

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#222

Post by msrenee »

baxtr wrote: post #215
msrenee wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People committing genocide also presumably don't wake up saying they're going to be evil again. Being able to justify an act to yourself doesn't make it not evil.

But then what does make something evil? Nature clearly doesn’t distinguish good vs evil. We humans do.

That's a much bigger question than whether one can commit an evil act without considering it evil.

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#223

Post by antifa »

teknologist wrote: post #169
voidfunc wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would Microsoft build something almost no customers were asking for? Even now ARM is niche.

To show them that their battery life could go from 2.5 hours to 8 or more, perhaps. That was the Mac experience that customers weren't asking for yet "wowed" them when it came.

> customers weren't asking for

they definitely were asking for longer battery life and cooling systems less noisy than a fighter jet, but the supply side of the market was a desert filled with minefields and duds until the M1.

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#224

Post by tsunamifury »

actionfromafar wrote: post #208
tsunamifury wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand if you have ever worked at a high level in these companies they are hardcore evil. Maybe not in this case but they 100% do the evil thing and press it to their advantage.

Sure but there are different kinds of evil. Some larger categories are: - Screw everyone if I get more money and power - Self-aggrandazing evil - Hurt people for fun evil - Comic-book style take over the world evil I think these are sorted in order of commonality. The top one is also the kind boardrooms attract at the upper echelons, just because of how the game is played.

Yes it’s primarily variations of your first one. At the owner level it has some flavor of the final one you list though.

I’d encourage you to have a conversation with Theil or Larry at some point and really hear in person how detached to the point of ‘evil’ they can get — and wrapped up in reshaping society for their own egotistical reasons.

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#225

Post by tsunamifury »

baxtr wrote: post #190
tsunamifury wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand if you have ever worked at a high level in these companies they are hardcore evil. Maybe not in this case but they 100% do the evil thing and press it to their advantage.

That’s the story you’re telling yourself to make sense of the world.

I brokered some portion of the omnibus agreements between the big 4.

The many parts of the agreements were clearly net negative outcomes for markets and users. Basic forms of collusion and cartel making were common.

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#226

Post by fundad »

fundad wrote: post #127
ankit219 wrote: post #107

A weird article. Apple was not the first or the only company to look to East Asia for cheap manufacturing, elctronic equipments, chips, or cheap labor. The trend was started and accelerated by motor companies and hardware just followed suit. Then, some other points are just...there. Apple is America's semiconductor problem because Apple is so big it purchases things in bulk and gets discounts - like every other big c…

A few other things jumped out to me: - Automotive's advanced features require chips but not the most advanced chips (by design, for reliability). - Micron's HQ is in the US but has operated globally since 1998 including design. ("Micron really went global in terms of its operations once it acquired the TI DRAM operations in 1998") - TSMC's 90% share of global semi is why Apple can get the exclusive on advanced proces…

BTW, the quote is from Sanjay Mehrota's Oral History https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/20...

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#227

Post by BenFranklin100 »

talldayo wrote: post #219
BenFranklin100 wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds to me like you’re saying that Apple management recognized that an integrated ecosystem (phone, tablet, watch, desktop OS etc…) could offer significant value to its costumers (in Apple’s case, the customer is the end user) while providing sufficient margin to serve as a profitable business model. Google, an advertising company, was focused on giving away free stuff (Gmail, Android, etc…) as an means to build…

I don't know how you can call Android, a Free and Open Source OS, "underhanded" in comparison to it's competition. For Christ's sake; Apple is currently fighting the EU over whether or not they have the right to charge developers for using hyperlinks.

You claim, without evidence, that open source software determines the ethics of business models built upon it. This is false. Much of the foundational software of the internet is open source, but internet businesses and organizations run the gamut from philanthropies to crime syndicates.

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#228

Post by talldayo »

BenFranklin100 wrote: post #227
talldayo wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how you can call Android, a Free and Open Source OS, "underhanded" in comparison to it's competition. For Christ's sake; Apple is currently fighting the EU over whether or not they have the right to charge developers for using hyperlinks.

You claim, without evidence, that open source software determines the ethics of business models built upon it. This is false. Much of the foundational software of the internet is open source, but internet businesses and organizations run the gamut from philanthropies to crime syndicates.

Conversely, many proprietary business models are carefully hidden from view to prevent people from understanding the extent of the harms. When a software product is made Open Source it fundamentally proves that there is nothing to hide. We can both agree that Google's business model is acerbic, but they aren't putting themselves between the user and the OS like Apple does.

Even if you're the most anti-Google person in the world, you have to admit it's a bit ironic that Android can be built with all Google services disabled whereas iOS, due to it's wonderfully-designed Google Search integration, cannot.

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#229

Post by BenFranklin100 »

talldayo wrote: post #228
BenFranklin100 wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You claim, without evidence, that open source software determines the ethics of business models built upon it. This is false. Much of the foundational software of the internet is open source, but internet businesses and organizations run the gamut from philanthropies to crime syndicates.

Conversely, many proprietary business models are carefully hidden from view to prevent people from understanding the extent of the harms. When a software product is made Open Source it fundamentally proves that there is nothing to hide. We can both agree that Google's business model is acerbic, but they aren't putting themselves between the user and the OS like Apple does. Even if you're the most anti-Google person i…

You are not even wrong.

Re: Apple is America's semiconductor problem

#230

Post by hintymad »

ankit219 wrote: post #107

A weird article. Apple was not the first or the only company to look to East Asia for cheap manufacturing, elctronic equipments, chips, or cheap labor. The trend was started and accelerated by motor companies and hardware just followed suit. Then, some other points are just...there. Apple is America's semiconductor problem because Apple is so big it purchases things in bulk and gets discounts - like every other big c…

A weird article indeed, and it shows the weak mentality of the author. Apple picked East Asia because East Asia were more productive and reliable. The real question to ask is why the chip manufacturing in the US has been declining in the last two decades?
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