I've worked in tech a long time but always on software/internet side. Looking for some good books or guides to understand the semiconductor industry. Any suggestions?
Investment banks produce pretty decent industry “primers” as part of their equity research business (basically it’s a service to bank clients). Someone on twitter recently shared a Dropbox folder filled with recent primers, and I see at least 2 in there about semiconductors:<p><a href="https://x.com/clarksquarecap/status/1703495357940822207?s=46" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://x.com/clarksquarecap/status/1703495357940822207?s=46</a>
<a href="https://www.semianalysis.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.semianalysis.com/</a> is the best blog by far...all the YouTubers (Asianometry as well) get the analysis from that blog.
For a stylized history of the early industry: The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce, by Tom Wolfe <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/class/e145/2007_fall/materials/noyce.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://web.stanford.edu/class/e145/2007_fall/materials/noyc...</a><p>I also read "A History of Silicon Valley" back in college (~2010) and really enjoyed it; looks like it's been updated continuously since then: <a href="https://www.scaruffi.com/svhistory/sv.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.scaruffi.com/svhistory/sv.html</a>
Steve Blank's Secret History of Silicon Valley: <a href="https://steveblank.com/secret-history/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://steveblank.com/secret-history/</a>
American Experience did a great documentary about Bob Noyce and the founding of Intel.<p><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/silicon/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/silicon/</a>
Understanding the semiconductor business can be quite complex, but there are some excellent books that can help. "The Innovators" by Walter Isaacson provides historical context on the tech industry, including semiconductors. "Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology" by Michael Quirk and Julian Serda is a comprehensive guide to the manufacturing side.<p>For a broader view of the industry, "Semiconductor Basics" by Christopher Saint and "Microchip: An Idea, Its Genesis, and the Revolution It Created" by Jeffrey Zygmont are good choices.<p>These books offer valuable insights into the semiconductor world from various angles. Happy reading!
Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Grove-Life-Times-American/dp/1591841399/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Andy+Grove%3A+The+Life+and+Times+of+an+American&s=books&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Grove-Life-Times-American/dp/159...</a><p>This appears to be out of print. I read it a long time ago when it was new. I enjoyed the book.<p>One of the things that I remember from it was how Intel really overestimated how quickly video calls would take off. They thought that video calls would be the "killer app" for desktop computers in the late 1990s / early 2000s.
If you’re interested in the history then I recently read and mostly liked The Chip by TR Reid. I’d like to find something more up to date than that. Lots of buzz around Chip War by Chris Miller. I haven’t read it.
The Idea Factory
Book by Jon Gertner<p>The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation is a 2012 book by Jon Gertner that describes the history of Bell Labs, the research and development wing of AT&T, as well as many of its eccentric personalities, such as Claude Shannon and William Shockley. It is Gertner's first published book.
Optical Lithography: Here is Why<p><a href="https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/ebooks/PM/Optical-Lithography-Here-is-Why-Second-Edition/eISBN-9781510639966/10.1117/3.2586123?SSO=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/ebooks/PM/Optical-Lithogr...</a>
Hi, both "High Output Management" and "Only the Paranoid Survive" by Andrew S. Grove detail how he managed and succeeded through the radical changes in the industry. Highly recommended reads.
Offering this title for asking opinions of it more than recommendation, as I've not yet read it:<p>'Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age', Riordan.