I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception - Groucho Marx
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Fear and loathing at Semicon West
DESPITE VENDORS grudgingly noting that Semicon West wasn't quite as bad as they had expected it to be this year, an atmosphere of fear and mistrust hung heavy in the air, with secrecy, suspicion and racism permeating the trade show floor.
"We are having to be extra careful of the Asian folk this year," one vendor (who we are not allowed to name) told the INQ adding "they come here and steal our ideas and go home and make our products for a fraction of the price, it's just not fair and we can't compete with that."
"Every time I see... Asian looking types with cameras, I shoo them away from the stand," another vendor told us with xenophobic zeal.
The sentiment of fear and loathing was echoed repeatedly, but the suspicion wasn't just reserved for those Semicon attendants of Asian decent: journalists had a tough time of it too.
Upon asking a vendor to explain a demo he had on his stand and tell us a bit about his company, the INQ was rudely dismissed with a "no, sorry." Puzzled, we asked the vendor in question why he appeared so reluctant to present his wares, after all, this was a trade show, was it not?
"You could be anyone," came the aggressive reply. "You're probably here to gather information about our products so you can bring it back to your firm for reverse R&Ding," continued our paranoid subject as we chuckled in disbelief.
As we walked past yet another empty space in the hall - conveniently transformed into one of too many eating areas - we pondered the dilemma the industry finds itself in.
With layoffs still ravaging silicon valley, it's little wonder those who still find themselves clinging to their jobs by their fingernails are a tad defensive.
Science has yet to come up with a commercialy viable alternative to silicon and it's hard to believe the semiconductor industry, which has had, and continues to have, such a monumental impact on our society, would simply fizzle out or continue to hemorrhage jobs at the rates it's been doing this past year.
To illustrate the point, Semi - the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chains for the microelectronic, display and photovoltaic industries - has said it expects 2009 semiconductor equipment sales to reach $14.14 billion. Despite the current decline, says Semi, 2010 should see industry-wide annual growth of about 47 per cent.
This seems a little optimistic to us, but it still indicates that the industry is hardly on its last legs. After all, people are not suddenly about to stop buying computers or needing advanced machinery for aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing etc.
It also occurs to us that immigrants and foreigners are hardly the issue, despite the bile leveled at them by the American and European vendors attending the show. As one relatively enlightened vendor noted with a sigh "It's just that the Indians and Chinese really have that drive to work."
She added that the rage expressed by many that 'the foreigners are stealing our jobs' was a load of cobblers, telling the INQ "I genuinely believe that the firms are not just hiring Indians and Asians for cost saving. They are being hired because they can do the job well."
Looking around anxiously, she added "But please don't quote me on that, I don't want to get into any trouble."
In the words of Hunter S. Thompson, "I hate to say this, but this place is getting to me. I think I'm getting the Fear." µ
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How lucky for you that you managed to find the two, or was it three, vendors out of ~700 that somehow overridingly suffocated West with "an atmosphere of fear and mistrust" that "hung heavy in the air, with secrecy, suspicion and racism permeating the trade show floor." I was on the floor too and in the sessions, and I didn't get that sense at all; as Jan V. notes most ppl had low expectations and weren't negatively surprised. Maybe you just happened to run into some misguided PR? Agree with Global-Fab, hard to believe that legitimate suppliers would hold (much less voice) that opinion with so much of the industry & customers in Asia, and increasingly China. (jury's still out on India as seriously anything beyond systems & design)
Wow, funny a vendor would actually say the Asians are stealing their ideas. If they don't have a staffing of 20 - 50% Asian their products probably aren't that competitive anyway. Unless my 20 year experience and background is ill-informed, Silicon Valley cowboys have adopted the Indians and Asians as the driving force of their technology. So, the real 'enemy' is probably lurking within. Also, who is their largest customer? China? Ok, so they won't let a friendly, inquiring journalist see a demo, but they will crate up a fully working machine and send it off into the IP black hole to be reverse engineered? There are loads of current and forming OEMs in China, many of them staffed by the silverback former executives of the Western OEMs. Chances are that we will see improved, breakthrough processes on familiar looking platforms grace the halls of Semicon from unfamiliar sounding OEMs "at a fraction of our price". It is high time that the arrogant OEMs take a look at their price gouging practices and waning technologies. If it takes offshore competition and some healthy IP subterfuge, then so be it.
What an odd and unfortunate article. Thankfully, we must travel in different circles at SEMICON West. I did not hear or sense any "secrecy, suspicion and racism" at the show. This may have been a far larger concern many years ago when exhibitors displayed their equipment and their was a bit of trade war with Japan going on, but those days are long gone. Today, proprietary stuff is definitely behind closed doors and the topic of chief concern is not regional IP theft, but global demand shrinkage and a radically smaller cap spending plan by chip makers. Technology marches on, though, and the hot issues were about the lithography roadmap, TSV, nano materials, and adjacent market opportunities in LEDS, printed electronics, MEMS, and Solar. This industry became a truly global one many years ago, and any voices that suggest regional and nationalistic competition is a major issue in the industry is simply delusional.
Were we at the same show? I did not see/feel anyone reluctant to talk about new developments. Yes, the size was down, but most exhibitors that I spoke with were please with the contacts they made (although most admitted they had low expectations). Many of the sessions were well-attended. One bright spot (no pun intended) was the high brightness LED session. This sector has double digit growth, despite the downturn. TSV was also a hot topic. Yes, it is a downturn, but each quarter will look a little better and companies that position themselves for a recovery we survive. As far as Asia, many Japanese companies still have layoffs and plant closings. A difficult time there. I continue to see investments in advanced packaging in the backend. TSMC is fairly positive.
P.S. I think some of your comments on race are a bit exaggerated.
So they shoo away potential customers at a trade show, and then we'll undoubtedly hear them moan about how they didn't make any sales ?
I'd pity their position, but right now I'm a tad preoccupied by finding myself a job.
That's probably the most interesting article I've read about Semicon all week. Thanks for finding a different angle and spicing things up for us Sylvie. It's refreshing to read original pieces like this.
"...make our products for a fraction of the price..."
Hah, what we're going to see in the next few years is all those Asian ODMs & OEMs telling the USA/EU vendors to push off. The ODM/OEM will make their own brands for the same products and get the brand mark-up as well manufacturing profits.
Think LG, ACER & co., if you need concrete examples.
Outsourcing manufacturing was always going to bite the tier one & tier two names in N.A. & Europe - it just took long enough for the Asians to realize that (a) they were capable of designing the hardware themselves, (b) given (a) that all the western firms are doing is ***marketting***.
Seriously you get a booth at an industry trade show, then shoo away anyone who comes near it? what the hell? why not save the money on the booth and just invite people you actually trust to your hotel room or something to show your products?
With stupidity like that no wonder they are out of jobs, nobody wants idiots working for them and that is a perfect example of idiocy right there!!