Layman’s Introduction to VLSI #9
“A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions--as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
The reason behind the global chip shortage that started in 2020 is still debatable. Experts say it's the covid 19 pandemic that is to be blamed which created a surge in demand and obstacles in the supply line. But if we go deep into this and try to scrutinize why the supply could not keep up with the demand, we may find some interesting answers.
India builds semiconductor chip designs for almost all major semiconductor companies in the world and yet India has to import 100% of its semiconductor chips. This not only shows the dependability of India on other nations but also highlights the question of why India is lacking behind in the semiconductor industry.
The actual reason behind the global chip shortage is the fabrication of semiconductor chips is lacking behind the designing of chips. The current crisis opens new prospects for countries like India to have a share of this pie on which Taiwan, Malaysia, and North Korea have ruled so far.
The Prime Minister of India has talked in his Sydney dialogue about developing India as the key semiconductor manufacturer in the coming years. It revives the discussion about the history of failures India had in the semiconductor sector.
SCL - Semiconductor Complex Ltd or Semiconductor Corporation Ltd, which is now called Semi-Conductor Laboratory was founded in 1984. That is 3 years earlier than TSMC - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited which was founded in 1987. TSMC did win the race to become a leading Semiconductor manufacturer while SCL whose facility was burned in a fire breakout in 1989 turned out to be just another failed government-funded company from the 1980s.
SCL didn't only suffer from fire breakouts but also from a lack of funding for testing and fabricating machines. As an Agriculture and textile industry-oriented country, India didn't have the clairvoyance about the future of semiconductors. While companies like Samsung and Apple do have their R&D facilities in India, none of the parts used in the manufacturing are locally made.This further keeps us deprived from learning new technology.
With automobile companies like Ford entering the semiconductor fabrication business, India too has got its second chance to rebuild SCL or maybe start a new VLSI fabrication industry from scratch.
