The Chip War

The Financial Times Business Book of the Year, this epic account of the decades-long battle to control one of the world’s most critical resources—microchip technology—with the United States and China increasingly in fierce competition is “pulse quickening…a nonfiction thriller” (The New York Times). You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing. Now, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more on chips than any other product, is pouring billions into a chip-building initiative to catch up to the US. At stake is America’s military superiority and economic prosperity. Economic historian Chris Miller explains how the semiconductor came to play a critical role in modern life and how the US became dominant in chip design and manufacturing and applied this technology to military systems. America’s victory in the Cold War and its global military dominance stems from its ability to harness computing power more effectively than any other power. Until recently, China had been catching up, aligning its chip-building ambitions with military modernization. Illuminating, timely, and fascinating, Chip War is “an essential and engrossing landmark study" (London Times).

The semiconductor industry is a vital industry for military establishments worldwide, and the control of, or loss of control of, this key industry has enormous strategic implications. This book focuses on the globalization of the strategic semiconductor industry and the security ramifications of this process. It examines in particular the migration of the Taiwanese chip industry to China as part of the globalization of production processes, and the extent to which such a globalization process poses security challenges to the United States, China and Taiwan. Transcending disciplinary boundaries between international political economy, security studies, and the history of science and technology, this multidisciplinary work provides an in-depth understanding of the globalization-security nexus, and disentangles the key policy issues connected to a potential explosive flashpoint in world politics today.

Barely fifty years ago a computer was a gargantuan, vastly expensive thing that only a handful of scientists had ever seen. The world’s brightest engineers were stymied in their quest to make these machines small and affordable until the solution finally came from two ingenious young Americans. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce hit upon the stunning discovery that would make possible the silicon microchip, a work that would ultimately earn Kilby the Nobel Prize for physics in 2000. In this completely revised and updated edition of The Chip, T.R. Reid tells the gripping adventure story of their invention and of its growth into a global information industry. This is the story of how the digital age began.

There is no better kept secret in your computer than the chip that makes everything go. Most People simply look for Intel Inside and look no further. That paradigm had been working for years. Today you can find better performance and lower prices with alternative processing chips. Intel, the dominant chip maker in the world is a household name but is it still the technology leader that it claims to be? This book answers that question and it also gives you information that you need to know to understand what's inside the engine of your computer and why the old maxims no longer apply. You won't be able to put this book down. Everything you want to know about chips is in here. The beauty of this book is that it not only gives you the inside scoop on which engine should drive your PC, but it also offers a first-class business and historical perspective on a fascinating technology based industry. The Chip War between AMD and Intel, IBM, and others will be big news for years to come. Even then, the case may not be decided permanently. Who will survive? Who will win the Chip Wars? This book gives you the best insights as to what the fight is all about and who is poised to win. Though this book was originally produced in 2005 and it is in its second reprint with minor modifications, it is still the defining book for programmers, analysts, IT Directors, network analysts, etc. Even John Q. Public can gain from reading this great book. It speaks the language of every day Americans and does not assume everybody is a technology engineer. You may even find yourself selling or buying some stock based on what you are about to gain from this book. The Chip industry is a real soap opera and the facts actually make a great tale. When you read the details, you will be glued to this book. You will soon know the whole story. With lots of chatter behind the scenes, IBM, an unlikely contestant in the Chip Wars, is keeping very quiet. But isn't Big Blue the leader in future home technology with its lock on the game console industry? Why is it that it seems that the only two chip companies who are not paying IBM for semiconductor advice are IBM and Intel? What about the many semiconductor partnerships going on today? Who will they benefit? Why does it seem that IBM, a company that is theoretically not even at war with Intel on all of the industry semiconductor teams? Could this group of partners be ready to take on Intel in the open community? Viva La Guerra!

The semiconductor industry is a vital industry for military establishments worldwide, and the control of, or loss of control of, this key industry has enormous strategic implications. This book focuses on the globalization of the strategic semiconductor industry and the security ramifications of this process. It examines in particular the migration of the Taiwanese chip industry to China as part of the globalization of production processes, and the extent to which such a globalization process poses security challenges to the United States, China and Taiwan. Transcending disciplinary boundaries between international political economy, security studies, and the history of science and technology, this multidisciplinary work provides an in-depth understanding of the globalization-security nexus, and disentangles the key policy issues connected to a potential explosive flashpoint in world politics today.

Buy now to get the main key ideas from Chris Miller's Chip War Every electronic device we use today, from smartphones to military weapons, is powered by the small silicon chips that gave Silicon Valley its name. In Chip War (2022), economic historian Chris Miller walks us through the highly competitive history of silicon chips, explaining how our world became defined by them and the small number of companies that produce them. Although the US has led the chip market for decades, the rapid rise of China’s chip industry threatens to remake the global economy and reset the balance of military power.