Chip War
I’m coming into this book about 2 years or 3 years too late, as usual, but as they always say, better late than ever.
This is a great historical book about how Silicon Valley came to be formed, how the first microchips came to be invented, and what the potential future holds for the entire industry. At the time of the book’s release, I think crypto was in the middle of its ascent and GPUs of all sorts was in short supply, but much of what the book predicts about the future (as far as availability goes) is accurate even more so with today’s AI craze.
Anyhow, for those unfamiliar with the rise of Silicon Valley, the first 1/3 of the book is amazing. Even if you do know of the rise of Silicon Valley, you might not be familiar with the rise of Texas Instruments, which also played a huge role in creating what is today’s digital lifeblood. The latter parts of the book deal with how globalization played another huge role in deteriorating the USA’s dominance in this key technology, and also the rise of TSMC, Samsung, and a few other key Japanese manufacturers. Special attention is paid to ASML as well, and of course TSMC in being the kingmaker’s of today’s world.
There’s a bit of geopolitical discussion that happens at the end of the book, with regards to China and its companies like Huawei, and mostly this is interesting mostly because of whats going to happen if a south china seas crisis happens. If China takes over taiwan, the global supply chain will be severely disrupted and the tariffs imposed easily on Russia will have to take another shape as advanced chips are impossible to replace unlike whatever Russia exports.
This is one of those rare books that are cogent to today’s world, well written, highly educational, and written in a style that is understandable to all. Outstanding and highly recommended!