The Economist on Chipmakers (I)

choi

(0 (zero) ) The Aug 23, 2025 issue of The Economist has cover stories on chipmakers in various sections. Its cover is attached below.

This cover is a riff on Norman Rockwell's iconic Thanksgiving painting. See Freedom from Want
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_from_Want

The Economist cover retains the wall paper in the upper right and left corner of the painting but edited out a painting within the painting in the upper right corner.

This cover also appears, as a vignette (1 1.2 X 2 1.2 inches; without wording of course) at the center of the first article, to be immediately followed -- in (2).

English dictionary:
* riff (n; etymology: "probably by shortening & alteration from refrain [a noun used in music]"): "a distinct variation : [synonym:] TAKE  <a disturbing … riff on the Cinderella story —Daria Donnelly>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riff

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(2) Beyond the Sacred Mountain.  Everyone wants the world's leading chipmaker to move beyond Taiwan. But it is a culture, not just a company. at page 13 (in the 'Briefing' section)
https://x.com/DivaJain2/status/1960499127420129722

Note:
(a) "Wendell Huang, the firm's finance chief [財務長(兼發言人 because he worked in America for decades and thus is fluent in English)黃仁昭 since 2019: 政治大學統計系 (played rugby there), Cornell NBA] * * * TSMC's fabs are enormous. In Taiwan, it operates four 'gigafabs [超大晶圓廠],' each with at least four times the capacity of a typical factory [or fab].  Fab 18 in Tainan alone spans 950,000 square metres [a hectare is a square with 100-meter sides, or 10,000 square meters]. Its cleanroom, the sterilised factory floor where chips are etched layer by layer, occupies one-sixth of that area and is cleaner than an operating theatre. * * * Res in Arizona[:] Perhaps sensing that the firm can be swayed, some American officials have floated the idea of TSMC partnering with Intel to help jump-start the American firm's foundry business. Mr [Wendell] Huang responds, frankly, that the company is not interested. He compares such a deal to pouring gasoline into a diesel engine. TSMC's processes are not compatible with Intel's fabs * * * Power is not the only limitation. Stephen Su of the Industrial Technology Research Institute [(ITRI)  工業技術研究院 (工研院)], a tech incubator in Hsinchu, points out that competition for engineers will grow fiercer as the working-age population shrinks."
(i)
(A) The "operating theatre" in British English is "operating room" (OR) in American English.
(B) "Historically, the term operating theater referred to a non-sterile, tiered theater or amphitheater in which students and other spectators could watch surgeons perform surgery. Contemporary operating rooms are usually devoid of a theater setting, making the term operating theater a misnomer in those cases."  en.wikipedia.org for "operating theater."
(ii) "Sassine Ghazi [Lebanon-American male], chief executive of Synopsys, a maker of chip-design tools"
(A) Synopsys
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synopsys
(1986- ; based in Sunnyvale, Calif)
(B) The name of the company (Synopsys) is a wordplay on English noun synopsis (summary, or more precisely from etymological point of view, "overview").
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synopsis
(etymology: "from [Ancient] Greek, literally, comprehensive view, from synopsesthai to be going to see together, from syn- + opsesthai to be going to see — more at OPTIC")

Wiktionary: The English noun is via Latin noun feminine of the same spelling and meaning, from Ancient Greek noun feminine σύνοψις (romanization: súnopsis), from prefix σύν (romanization: sún, with [in Modern English syn- as in synchronize]) + noun feminine ὄψις (romanization: ópsis, view)
(iii) About the heading "Res in Arizona." Wiktionary suggests the "res" is a clipping (meaning shorthand) of residence.
(iv) "He compares such a deal to pouring gasoline into a diesel engine."

petrol engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrol_engine
("Most petrol engines use spark ignition, unlike diesel engines which run on diesel fuel and typically use compression ignition. Another key difference to diesel engines is that petrol engines typically have a lower compression ratio.[1][2][3]")

Gasoline (petrol in British English) is thinner than diesel.
(v) Stephen Su. In Management. ITRI, undated.
https://www.itri.org.tw/english/ ... =617754420335147671
is 蘇孟宗 (title: 資深副總 Senior Vice President; BS from Department of Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), UC Berkeley; MS, Department of Electrical Engineering, Caltech; MBA, Northwestern Univ)


(b) "In 2025, 52% of revenue is expected to come from chips produced on its most advanced nodes—typically '5nm' and below * * * TSMC's newest fab [Fab 22 晶圓22廠, for 2 nm] in Kaohsiung, which spans 79 hectares * * * [in Arizona] One fab has begun production; two more are under construction, with another three to follow. All told, Arizona could house as much as a third of TSMC'S most advanced capacity. * * * After a powerful earthquake hit Taiwan in 1999, employees quickly filled TSMC's car park ]car parl in British English is parking lot in American Englishto assess the damage. In the mid-2010s the company created a 'nightingale programme' [夜鷹計畫 [(2014-2016); TSMC in 2014 announced entry of 16nm, yet Samsung same year announced entry of 14 nm the next year; TSMC went through Nightingale program of 24/7 R&D to first reach 10 nm in 2016] with engineers working the night shift as it raced to close the gap with Samsung and win Apple's phone business. * * * In Taiwan, TSMC is more than just a company. Locals refer to it as 'the sacred mountain that protects the country [護國神山]' * * * In 2022 Mark Liu [劉德音], then TSMC'S Chairman * * * Even if the Arizona fabs function as well as expected, two-thirds of the world's most advanced chips will still be made in Taiwan.Even if the Arizona fabs function as well as expected, two-thirds of the world's most advanced chips will still be made in Taiwan."
(c) Chart 1's heading "Ab fab" is an informal, shortened term for "absolutely fabulous."

choi

(1) All-American Silicon; The fantasy of home-grown chipmaking. Page 7 (in the 'Leader' section)

Note:
(a) About Intel: "A fab in Ohio meant to open this year is now expected to begin operations in the early 2030s."
(i) Intel in Ohio: You Were Built For This. Intel, undated
https://www.intel.com/content/ww ... /intel-in-ohio.html
("Intel is planning to invest more than $28 billion in the construction of two [at present] new leading-edge chip factories in Ohio to boost production to meet demand * * * Spanning nearly 1,000 acres in New Albany, Licking County, just outside of Columbus, the 'mega-site' can [eventually] accommodate a total of eight chip factories as well as supporting operations and ecosystem partners")

The project, "Silicon Heartland," began in January 2022. Construction is currently underway at the Ohio One site, although the pace of construction was recently slowed.
(ii) New Albany, Ohio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Albany,_Ohio
(a city "located 15 miles (24 km) northeast of the state capital of Columbus"; table  Population (2020)   10,825)
(b) "Even by the end of this decade, when TSMC's third fab in America is due to begin producing 2nm chips, two-thirds of such semiconductors are likely to be made on the island."

See (2)'s Note (b).