Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
Chris Miller
An epic account of the decades-long battle to control what has emerged as the world's most critical resource—microchip technology—with the United States and China increasingly in conflict. 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. more
464 pages, Hardcover
First published Scribner
4.45
Rating
18614
Ratings
1768
Reviews
Chris Miller
180 books 289 followers
Chris Miller teaches International History at Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is also Jeane Kirkpatrick Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Eurasia Research Director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. (Source: Amazon.com)Community reviews
I was completely engaged while reading this, because I worked at Texas Instruments, and subsequently at Silicon Valley-based companies for over 30 years. Almost half the book is devoted to the history of the semiconductor industry, and as one who has spent the vast majority of his adult life involved in the tech industry, I found this part fascinating. I did not know that Taiwan's TSMC was founded by an American, Morris Chang, who had been passed over for CEO at Texas Instruments. I had somehow missed the fact that Bob Noyce, of Fairchild Semiconductor fame, also founded Intel. I was not aware of the Dutch company, ASML, and the phenomenal machines it builds to etch ultra-fine silicon chips. more
A sweeping and very engaging read on the computer chips that underpin the modern day economy. Fascinating reading and deeply unsettling how many choke points exist in this key supply chainOver one quantilion (1 with 18 zeroes behind it) transistors were produced by TSMC in 2020More thoughts to follow but I very much understand how this book won the FT non-fiction book of the year award. Fascinating reading and incredibly interesting how dependent on chips our modern day economy is. 6 Feb ‘23 update: need to write a review but this book helped me so much in writing about the supply chain value capture. more
Chip War is an outstanding history of the microchips from their invention up until just about the current moment (hopefully the eventual paperback edition will add some context on the significant recent U. S. policy shift on chips). It is written in a relatively easy and entertaining style that makes it easy to digest what is clearly a work of substantial depth of reporting and history. The book covers the global nature of microchips—the rise and fall of the fortunes of different companies and countries, the evolving division of labor in chip production, the ways in which government policy have been integral to developments at various stages but have also failed. more
I write this review a few days after the book's publication and the day after the US announced a sweeping set of restrictions on US tools sold to any advanced Chinese semiconductor chip manufacturer. There could not have been a more forceful endorsement of the relevance of any book. Chip War is more than topical. It presents a highly readable history of the industry. While refreshingly unbiased in many arguments, the book sheds light on the thinking pervasive amongst US policymakers. more
Image: An ASML advanced lithography machine which patterns millions of microscopic transistors, each much smaller than a human cell, onto chips using extreme ultraviolet light. SourceChip:noun "a small piece of semiconducting material, usually silicon, with millions or billions of microscopic transistors carved into it. " Also known as a semiconductor or integrated circuitIn the summer of '21, I went with my partner to the local Toyota dealership to purchase a new car. I expected her to drive off the lot with one, just as I had done in the past when purchasing new vehicles. It was her first "new" vehicle and we were both thrilled for her to get it. more
This book starts with the invention of the transistor and follows with how its existence inspired entrepreneurs, investors, and politicians. All through this story the book keeps making reference to Moore's Law as if it was preordained scripture. As the transistors improved and manufacturing techniques improved the centers of activity spread through locations such as Silicon Valley, Texas, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and other Southeast Asian nations. The frantic scramble of the Soviets to keep up with the West by copying the technology is also described. And then we arrived at the situation we have today where China, wanting very much to be independent from western sources, is looking across the Taiwan Straight with envious eyes to where the world's most advanced transistor manufacturing is located. more
Impressive. Very detailed, with both historical context and current situation assessment. Personally, I had a bunch of questions I've failed to get answered so far, and here's where "Chip War" has helped - I believe my understanding of the situation has improved significantly. It doesn't make me more comfortable (as the global geo-political situation is tense), but at least the foreign policies make more sense. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in XXI tech, politics, or both. more
Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, by Chris Miller, is an interesting book that examines the semiconductor in history and through supply chain economics and geopolitics. The semiconductor/microchip is a fascinating piece of technology that utilizes silicon and the control of the flow of electrons to create gateways and switches. The book follows the development of this technology in the 1950's, through the era of Moore's Law, and into the modern world. The tech was developed in the United States in the post World War II era, first used in early computers, and heavily funded by the US government, especially the Department of Defense. Chips were especially useful in guiding missiles and munitions. more
I found Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, a history of the semiconductor industry, unexpectedly fascinating. Although written in a journalistic style it is dense with information, which reminded me of Daniel Yergin's The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. I think it's an important book for understanding how technology has shifted the loci of economic power across the world in the past sixty years. Although written from an American perspective, it offers a lot of insight into how chip manufacture became concentrated in a handful of East Asian companies. The early history of how semiconductors were invented really emphasises how deeply entwined computing was with wars and the military-industrial complex. more
ماذا تعرف عن الرقائق الإلكترونية المدمجة؟ لقد ظهر هذا الابتكار قبل ٧٠ عام، كشطحة ابتكارية من عالم أمريكي -وآخر بريطاني لكن لا أحد يحبه-، تبنته شركة أمريكية، تفرعت عنها عدة شركات أمريكية. منها (إنتل) التي نعرفها جيداً. إن قصة الرقيقة الإلكترونية هي قصة أميركية جداً. ويروي هذا الكتاب العلاقة بين الرجال -ليس بينهم امرأة واحدة- الذين جعلوا من هذه الرقيقة منتجاً استراتيجياً يكاد يوازي النفط أهمية. وبالرغم من أن التطبيقات الأولى لذلك الاختراع الاميركي كانت عسكرية بدافع من هزيمة ڤيتنام المنكرة، إلا ان ظهور الپي سي غير المعادلة تماماً. more
Great read, got an interesting point of view on few things. more
This is a book for people from outside of the domain, there is quite good stuff for them, I would bet they would hear some critical companies first time in their life. Otherwise, it's mostly disappointing by not having enough details more than a Wikipedia page of Intel. It's also full of repetitions and has an unnecessarily non-linear/complex timeline. more
What a well-written, well-researched and gripping book. It captures my attention from the first page, leads me through the history of the semiconductor industry and the evolution of the technology, and provides me with understanding of various players in the field and the related geopolitics. The semiconductors (chips) are the new oil. It’s surprising how many choke points exist in such a key industry to our global economy. The overall tone is neutral and professional. more
Glad to be done with this one. I learned a bit from this book about chips and the semiconductor industry (i think), but the story is so poorly told that the mind just glazes over after awhile. One gets the sense Miller didnt really know how to organise all his information, his dramatis personae, nor his settings, so what emerges is an interminable conveyor belt of barely-coherent technical jargon, indistinguishable characters, and their origin stories. There chapters don't converge, nor is there a clear overarching narrative. The reader is just forced to endure page after page of painfully bland description, spiced with a few choice phrases. more
Sensational book about the history of the chip industry and the current technological and trade conflict between the US and China. The book traces the history of the chip all the way from the 1940s with its pioneers hailing from China, Japan, Korea and the US. It explains how the US became a global tech super-power from the 1950s to the 1970s with tech companies such as Texas Instruments, Fairchild Computing or Intel, how they transferred their knowledge and know-how to their Asian allies in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, how they were challenged by Japan in the 1980s, how they created a symbiotic relationship with Taiwan in the 1990s and how they are once again challenged today by China today. Other than the impressive pace of innovation the book explains how the key to the modern chip production is the fabless model. In this model US companies designs microchips but contract out their production to factories in Asia. more
This book has some good information (which has been addressed by other reviewers) but it also has some blatantly obvious bias. there's more than a little "Ra-Ra America and Capitalism is the best", sinophobia directed heavily at China for doing. the same kind of things that the US does. The author sneers at Chinese govt subsidies funding chip manufacturers in that country but is fine with US companies getting govt funding for research or from the pentagon. He also laments the USA's "defeat in Vietnam" with an "if only our bombs had been better at killing North Vietnamese people" passage. more
Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive. -- Andy GroveChip War is a marvelous history book about the semiconductor industry from the USA's point of view. As someone who works with information technology, I was somewhat familiar with the main twists and turns, but I still found the text illuminating and fun to consume. more
20023-11-08 I finished this last week. Hoping to pull my notes/highlights together soon to write a decent review. 2023-10-26 Started this about a week ago - very captivating. The author is a very good writer. The subject is of great interest to me, since I followed the progress of the microprocessor firms, their products and the overall market pretty closely in publications ranging from: PC Magazine, "InfoWorld" "PC News, to Forbes, ASAP, Wall St. more
Best book I've read this year. Smooth and concise story line all the way from historical backstory on semiconductors coming about, to the geopolitical implications of chip manufacturing from US-China standoff in Taiwan to Russia's military troubles after attacking Ukraine. more
This was a recent pick for our book club. It was an eye opener for me, in that I knew next to nothing about chip technology, and how many of the devices I currently use wouldn't be possible without chips. This book outlines the history of chip development and how important it is for global economies. Worth reading. more
A lot of narrative, story-telling, and ideology. Very weak in actual content and arguments. Also the author has zero knowledge about the science of chips and semiconductors. He learned everything about international politics by reading the New York Times. This book reads like a history essay written by a high school kid, carelessly copying and pasting from ChatGPT. more
The Value of Innovation: Review of Chris Miller’s Chip WarWhat do we think of when we think of technology. Our imagination often conjures images of mobile applications, digital payments and buzzwords like Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and BlockChain. While the superstructure like digital public goods and mobile applications are clearly perceptible we seldom realise that the proverbial base of all technological intervention are pieces of hardware commonly referred to as the ‘chip’ that encapsulate its computing power. ‘Chip War’ is a masterful exploration of the history of computing in the backdrop of intense geopolitical competition and entrepreneurial innovation. The umbilical cord between research and innovationIf I were to summarise the first part of Miller’s excellent manuscript borrowing from John Maynard Keynes I would say that actions of successful innovators, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any theoretical influences, are usually slaves of some brilliant scientist. more
We live in the Silicon age. Microprocessors are so pervasive that we no longer even count how many we have around us. And we have hundreds around us at any given moment. This is an excellent sense making book. 200 odd pages that give you a very crisp understanding of how this industry came to be and how it shapes the world today. more
Dette er boka som har gitt Adrians leseprosjekt 2023 en real slagside. Og det er mest min egen skyld, fordi jeg var så sta at jeg absolutt skulle fullføre. Istedenfor å legge den bort etter 100 sider og si "dette blir for detaljert og uinteressant for meg". Jeg trodde i utgangspunktet jeg gikk i gang med en bok som tok for seg semiconductors og hvordan de påvirker dagens politiske klima, med spesielt trykk på USA, Taiwan og Kina. Det jeg fikk var. more
เป็นหนังสือที่เล่าเรื่องประวัติของการพัฒนาเทคโนโลยี สงคราม ของแต่ละประเทศได้เห็นภาพมาก แต่ไม่อินเลย. more
Illustrative of the implications of the development of the widespread technology of chips in combination with globalization, business interconnections and other events occurred during the last 70 years, that still are of vital importance currently, '. and will shape our future'. Well written, dynamic. It has allowed me to understand what's at stake. Additionally, Stephen Graybill, the narrator has done a good job. more
Despite of all the talks of "chips are the new oil", the books of oil far outnumber those of chips. Particularly, we don't see enough good books on the history of chips industry to satisfy ever increasing public demand for such knowledge. "Chip war" is changing that. The depth and breadth of the book earn itself a place shoulder to shoulder with Daniel Yergin's brilliant "The Price: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power", my favorite book on Oil. Book's interweaving narratives tell a fascinating story on how silicon transistors grow from a concept in a lab to a multi-billions dollars business. more
Outstanding . First 40% of this book is literally the history of the microchip, starting with the first transistor in late 50's designed by Shockley, then mass produced in emerging companies like Texas Instruments and Fairchild initially for the Pentagon's guided missles used in Vietnam war then for general use. We then hit the 60-70's when America outsources its production to Japan and loses its grip on memory chip DRAM technology. 3 engineers leave Fairchild and create Intel. In the 80's Intel loses market share to Japan which learned to integrate chips in consumer electronics (radios , walkman) via companies like Sony and Sharp. more
Fantastic journey of the semi conductor industry from the USA travelling through Europe and reaching Asia's shores - over and over again through the years. A great read also on the political ramifications and the geographical implications as a result. Chips are an integral part of our lives and for non-technical people like me this was a good eye opener on their ubiquitous presence. Heartily recommended. more