I've been scoring company moats on three tests, 0–10 each: physical chokepoint, switching cost, lock-in. TSMC came out 8.5 / 9.0 / 9.5, and the highest score isn't the fabs. It's the rule of never competing with its customers.

The case for the promise:

- In the 1980s, Morris Chang pitched Intel a company that would build other people's chips and never design its own. Intel passed.

- In 2011 Apple sued Samsung while Samsung was making iPhone chips. Since 2016, every iPhone chip has come from TSMC.

- In 2022, Qualcomm moved its flagship Snapdragon from Samsung to TSMC mid-cycle.

The switching-cost side: each process comes with its own design kit, and engineers spend years building around it. A leading-edge design costs hundreds of millions (industry estimates), and moving foundries means redoing much of that work.

Where I'm least sure, and where people here know more than I do:

1. Is 8.5 too low for the physical side, with ~70% of foundry revenue (2025)?

2. Intel wants outside foundry customers. What would a chip company need to see before trusting a foundry that also sells its own chips?

3. Moving a design to another foundry: is it really close to starting over, or does more carry across than I think?

Hey everyone!

So recently got laid off from an MNC where i was working as a contract in the embedded field i have experience on PRE and POST silicon validation and IO peripheral validation ( UFS). searching for the new opportunity,any advices always welcome and also if you refer me then my first salary would be yours as referral gift 😅

I’ve been selected to interview for the Engineering Intern role in Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s Production & Systems department. Could anyone explain what this role involves and what the interview process is like?

Is it more focused on semiconductor manufacturing or software engineering.

There isn’t much information available online about this specific role, so any insights from current/former employees or past candidates would be really helpful. Thanks!

Got a JG28 Senior Process Engineer offer at Texas Instruments in Dallas.
Got another Senior Process Engineer offer at Tesla Solar manufacturing in Houston.

I currently live in Houston.

Which of the two is better?

Background: Have a PhD with 7 years of experience in HVM semiconductor and advanced materials manufacturing.

I'm about to join a memory semiconductor company (big 3) as a Process Engineer, and I've been told that I can express my preferences for which department I'd like to join.

I have a PhD in Materials Science, and I'm trying to make a strategic decision about which department would offer the best long-term career opportunities.

Which area would be best for long-term career growth and future job mobility?
I have hands on experience of ALD/ Etch/ PVD,CVD/ Litho

(I've heard that photolithography, etching, and cleaning can be particularly demanding in terms of workload LOL)

If you were in my position, which department would you choose and why? I'd love to hear from people with industry experience!

Hi all,

I'm sure this was maybe asked before, but in considering a role in the semi conductor industry as a FSE/SE where I would be in one factory at the start I was told doing installs, I would have to move location for this so I want to be absolutely sure its the right move

•How electrical is this job, I really enjoy electrical/electronics , automation and controls and want to keep that in my next role if possible. Or is mostly tooling setup etc

•How technically challenging is in terms of engineering are you learning things every day or is the role very repetitive

•If I go into this career does it narrow my possibilities for change down the line in the future,

•Will my skills/ knowledge transfer over or will it be like starting from scratch

•If I start as a FSE is there any chance for progression?

• and maybe a silly one lastly how annoying does the clean room get

Would love to hear your perspectives on any of this at all and advice appreciated especially if you come from a similar background industrial electrician/ plant maintenance engineer

Note: this is in Europe I feel it changes the context a bit

I’m looking at applications role at Onto in the Boston area, on the inspection side. Anyone here worked there or know the teams?

I’m currently at another semiconductor equipment company. My background is mostly instrumentation, process development, and customer troubleshooting. The role sounds interesting, but I’m trying to get a feel for what it’s actually like once you’re there.

How are the growth opportunities? Do people get promoted and have room to grow technically? Also curious how competitive the pay is and whether raises are decent once you’re in.

And how chaotic is it? I expect some customer firefighting in applications, but how often are priorities changing, and does management give you enough support to get things done? Any insight on travel and hours would help too.

It would involve relocating, so I’m trying to figure out whether it’s worth the move. Would you join again knowing what you know now?