It's important to remember that the perfect time to buy is when there's blood in the water, never has the case been more true than within the microchip industry at its current junction. With only three main players in the manufacturing and design space, a would-be investor needs to ensure that a chipmaker is managing its supply chain tactically, is in a solid geopolitically spot, and is staying ahead of the curve as it relates to both their broad strategy and most importantly, technological advancement.
A Majority Hinges On Who Has The Technological Lead
While the past has taught us that American ingenuity at its finest can still be beaten, as shown by Samsung & TSMC's past leadership in the chip race, Intel Corporation (INTC) is the chipmaker to bet on as we enter the mid-2020s and is a stock that you can likely accumulate for a decade at least if this arena continues to play out as it has. Panning back to their current inferiority in the chip race, Intel's turnover and lack of government support were mainly the contributing factors in granting Samsung and TSMC's lead, allowing them to develop 5nm chips while Intel was still producing 7nm chips (quick FYI, chip advancement is measured by the density of transistors - nm stands for nanometer, this chart below is a fantastic example of microchip generations).
While this would currently place them 5 years behind the competition, Intel's new CEO, Patrick Gelsinger has a radical new plan to launch ahead of the competition; Gelsinger is positioning Intel to completely skip the next generation of chip hardware in hopes of bringing the Angstrom chip to market. It's called this because the chip has 20 'Angstrom' transistor density compared to the in-development 3 and 4nm or (30 & 40a) transistor density chips of Samsung and TSMC. Getting this to market by early 2025 as planned would boost them ahead of others within this arena by 5 years. Continue reading "Navigating The Microchip Arena"
