> <i>Intel’s chief executive Bob Swan yesterday told industry analysts that the former industry leader in chip manufacturing might quit the fabrication business altogether, outsourcing its designs to Taiwan or South Korea instead. The company’s shock announcement called into question US efforts to return critical manufacturing capacity to the United States, and came despite semiconductor industry lobbying to secure federal subsidies for chip production in the United States. Semiconductors are the building blocks of the digital economy, and America’s inability to slow the decline of onshore chip fabrication is a strategic liability of the highest order.</i><p>Sounds like bad news. The diversity that remains of chip manufacturing must be preserved everywhere around the world, including the U.S, Europe, China and the rest of Asia. Not doing so would mean we're likely going to hit a dead end rather soon for current silicon.<p>> <i>Intel’s 10-nanometer technology has just come into production, three years after target, and is already obsolete. Once the industry leader, Intel lacks the engineering expertise to stay ahead of Asian competition.</i><p>source seems biased?