Best books to understand semiconductor business?
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?
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.
Chip War (2022) by Chris Miller
Two that I found really helpful were The Big Score and The Intel Trinity by Michael Malone. Both cover the earlier years, but great history.
Not a book, but Moores Law is Dead & Adored TV youtube channels and podcasts are a great resource.
Origin story, The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American
https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Grove-Life-Times-American/dp/159...
This appears to be out of print. I read it a long time ago when it was new. I enjoyed the book.
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.
The Idea Factory
Book by Jon Gertner
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.
Richard S. Tedlow’s biography of Andy Grove.
Offering this title for asking opinions of it more than recommendation, as I've not yet read it:
'Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age', Riordan.
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:
https://x.com/clarksquarecap/status/1703495357940822207?s=46
Intel folks recommended
“Chip War,” by Chris Miller
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.
Email me and I’ll tell you everything you want to know. I’ll share my experiences, all the books, history, biographies, and industry nuances.
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.
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.
These books offer valuable insights into the semiconductor world from various angles. Happy reading!