The cows were desperate to be milked, the sheep to be sheared
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Signs of chip change coming
ORDERS FOR JAPANESE chip-making equipment have turned upwards again, indicating that economic conditions might be leveling off soon in the semiconductor manufacturing sector.
The fact that people are ordering more tools used to make microchips is seen as a sign that things will be getting better. Sales rose by 22 percent in May from the previous month to $326 million.
However, the industry data collected by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan indicates that things have still got a long way to go before the industry completely recovers. According to Reuters, equipment orders were still down 65 per cent from a year earlier.
While some companies might be circling the drain, others such as Samsung and Intel are splashing out on new gear with aggressive plans to outrun their rivals when an expected recovery comes in the second half of the year. µ
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OR they could go spintronics. Or memristors. Or graphene. Or carbon nanotube. Or laser. Or chemical. Or quantum dot. Just because you saw a report on some experiments that looked promising for some future process doesn't mean it's cost-practical or even fully realizable NOW.
real change will come when the 'transfer capacitor' technology replaces the transistor.
until then, the public are just being milked for cash to pay for old technology development costs