Summary of Chris Miller's Chip War

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Chris Miller's Chip War in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: 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, smartphones to the stock market—runs on chips. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower. Now, America's edge is slipping, undermined by competitors in Taiwan, Korea, Europe, and, above all, China. Today, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more money each year importing chips than it spends importing oil, 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 U.S. become 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. But here, too, China is catching up, with its chip-building ambitions and military modernization going hand in hand. America has let key components of the chip-building process slip out of its grasp, contributing not only to a worldwide chip shortage but also a new Cold War with a superpower adversary that is desperate to bridge the gap.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798350063707

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Summary of Chris Miller’s Chip War

Contents

Overview

The Silicon Age

The Silicon World

World War II

The Integrated Circuit

Mass Production

The USSR

The Chip Network

The Rise of Taiwan

Cutthroat Competition

The Threat of Bankruptcy

The Rise of South Korea

America’s Resurgence

The Ascendancy of TSMC

Lithography Wars

Complex Supply Chains

Intel’s Downfall

Made in China

The Rise of Huawei

Battles of the Future

Risks of the Future

About the Author

Overview

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.

The Silicon Age

The United States holds a stranglehold on silicon computer chips, but its position has deteriorated dangerously. China now spends more money on chips each year than it does on oil. So China is investing billions of dollars and its brightest people in developing its own semiconductor technology. If Beijing succeeds in ending American dominance over the chip market, it will be in control of the global economy and hold the military edge.

Just as steel and aluminum defined World War II, computer power may well determine the outcome of the rivalry between the United States