Heisenberg’s principle applied to Indian wafer fabs
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And then along came Cricket, formed by a couple of former Texas Instruments executives with a plan for an analog/power fab that seemed to make sense and a realistic price tag of just $1 billion. And a name for the company that demonstrates cultural alignment with a country whose population is fanatical about the game.
However, a similar stasis seems to have overtaken that project with a recent report throwing up uncertainty over where the fab will be located (see Could India’s analog wafer fab be moving south?).
Next: Wishful thinking
It may be a report that only represents wishful thinking on behalf of the state of Telangana but it still seems to typify a lack of commitment that potentially springs from one unanswered question that applies to all three fab projects: "Where is the money going go come from?"
It appears that in India fab building is a waiting game. And the wait will likely last until the Indian authorities at both state and national level acquire the political will to compete with China and stump up cash rather then rebates.
Related links and articles:
News articles:
Could India’s analog wafer fab be moving south?
India to build billion-dollar analog wafer fab
Tower buys three wafer fabs for $8 million
Tower signs deal with Shanghai hub