[HN Gopher] Intel chief Pat Gelsinger: Too many chips made in Asia
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Intel chief Pat Gelsinger: Too many chips made in Asia
        
       Author : tartoran
       Score  : 160 points
       Date   : 2021-03-24 21:34 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bbc.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bbc.com)
        
       | gens wrote:
       | Too many cpu companies are USA-ian.
        
         | JBiserkov wrote:
         | CPU, OS, Search engine, Social networks, ...
        
           | gens wrote:
           | This forum.
        
       | philistine wrote:
       | He didn't get the memo Trump isn't president anymore. The dog
       | whistles are out of style right now.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | excalibur wrote:
       | TSMC is far too important to far too many parties. We're getting
       | dangerously close to a direct US/China war for Taiwan. That
       | wouldn't be good for anybody. Both sides will claim it's about
       | something else, but really it's all about the chips.
        
         | rory wrote:
         | It really is pretty terrifying. I'd go as far to say that the
         | most likely thing the next World War (pray there isn't one)
         | will be fought over is TSMC.
        
       | davedx wrote:
       | Full of sound and fury, isn't he?
       | 
       | Let's see Intel really take that gigantic mountain of cash they
       | have and actually execute on this. Then we'll see.
        
       | king_magic wrote:
       | He's entirely right. I think this is the best move Intel has made
       | in decades.
        
         | topspin wrote:
         | He's also talking out of both side of his mouth. Yesterday we
         | learn this[1] and this "Galsigner says" story unironically
         | fails to point it out.
         | 
         | [1] Intel to Outsource Some Key CPU Production for 2023 Chips
         | to TSMC https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-to-outsource-
         | some-ke...
        
           | 01100011 wrote:
           | What's wrong with that?
           | 
           | The company has to react both tactically and strategically.
           | Short term, they may have to use overseas production while
           | the domestic capability improves.
        
       | smiley1437 wrote:
       | I'm all for redistributing fab capacity geographically. But I
       | thought it became concentrated in Asia because of the lower cost
       | for high quality engineers due to LCOL. How will Intel change
       | this equation to make it profitable in other geographic regions?
        
         | UncleOxidant wrote:
         | Labor costs in a modern fab are a pretty small part of total
         | costs. The fab construction itself as well as filling it with
         | semiconductor equipment (like those ASML EUV lithography
         | machines) swamp labor costs.
        
         | stanislavb wrote:
         | I guess that if the US gov begins offering skilled VISAs,
         | that'd help.
        
         | phone8675309 wrote:
         | >How will Intel change this equation to make it profitable in
         | other geographic regions?
         | 
         | Let me introduce you to this little thing called an H1B visa...
        
         | JumpCrisscross wrote:
         | What fraction of a fab's costs are labour today versus twenty
         | years ago?
        
         | tantalor wrote:
         | Cost of living is 20% lower in San Jose, Costa Rica (location
         | of Intel manufacturing plant) compared to TSMC in Taiwan.
        
           | WrtCdEvrydy wrote:
           | Yeah, it's not cost of living, it's that everything is
           | there... it's a chicken-egg because even if you move the
           | physical fab, everything you need still needs to be
           | transported or you need to convince people to move with you.
           | 
           | This isn't a one year project, this could be a 25 year
           | project to get the entire pipeline from raw resource to a
           | piece of silicon.
        
         | dragontamer wrote:
         | USA has some of the lowest cost of energy / electricity in the
         | world and one of the best rail-freight systems in the world.
         | 
         | Our passenger rail sucks and our people are expensive. But
         | significant manufacturing remains in the USA (yes, we
         | manufacture more today than ever before, despite the hoopla
         | about outsourcing). There's a reason for that: USA has some
         | pretty good advantages if you know what to look for.
        
           | formerly_proven wrote:
           | I (we... us Europeans) often make fun of the US but when shit
           | hits the fan the US often seems to be quite a bit better at
           | actually _getting stuff done_.
        
             | dragontamer wrote:
             | I mean... only when we (Americans) feel like getting things
             | done.
             | 
             | A lot of it is just arguing with ourselves over what to do.
             | But if a consensus is reached, Americans can get it done
             | pretty quickly. There's just so much discussion / debate /
             | noise now.
        
       | ironmagma wrote:
       | This could be great. Personal anecdote time, when I was using
       | ESP32 there were some things it couldn't handle due to a very
       | unconfigurable WiFi interface -- captive portal advertisement via
       | DHCP specifically. (Before people get their knickers in a twist,
       | it was connecting to a box that had no internet access, so there
       | was no hostage situation there.) It turns out there are basically
       | no open source or even American options that replace that chip. A
       | lack of competition leads to a stymied market.
        
       | TeeMassive wrote:
       | This have been bothering me for a while. What would happen if for
       | any reasons the biggest fabs are destroyed? It would take years
       | to get more than half of a century of accumulated knowledge just
       | from patents, and that's not even counting industrial secrets and
       | all the economical machine needed to support such an industry.
       | 
       | There have been projects focused on securing Humanity's
       | technological knowledge in case of a worldwide calamity like
       | GitHub storing all its source code in microfilms, but I can't
       | think of any project entirely focused on building from scratch
       | and kick-starting the industrial motor of modern civilization.
        
         | sigstoat wrote:
         | > What would happen if for any reasons the biggest fabs are
         | destroyed?
         | 
         | it "just" takes some years and heaping piles of money to
         | replace them. though probably more if you're trying to replace
         | them all at once, as there aren't a lot of folks who make the
         | equipment to rebuild the fabs.
         | 
         | > It would take years to get more than half of a century of
         | accumulated knowledge just from patents, and that's not even
         | counting industrial secrets and all the economical machine
         | needed to support such an industry.
         | 
         | sounds like you're more concerned about loss of the personnel
         | and records, rather than the buildings.
         | 
         | > I can't think of any project entirely focused on building
         | from scratch and kick-starting the industrial motor of modern
         | civilization.
         | 
         | i mean, "world peace" is generally concerned with preventing it
         | from being destroyed in the first place.
         | 
         | conventional wisdom is that taiwan bases a chunk of their
         | national security on nobody wanting to see TSMC ruined.
        
           | riversflow wrote:
           | World peace will only go so far if a huge solar storm hits us
           | and we are not adequately prepared.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | yongjik wrote:
       | > "Having 80% of all supply in Asia simply isn't a palatable
       | manner for the world to have its view of the most critical
       | technology," Mr Gelsinger said.
       | 
       | Eh, the whole set of FAANG plus Intel itself is based on American
       | West Coast, and this guy's take is that so many chips being made
       | in East Asia is not "palatable" for the world?
       | 
       | There's nothing wrong with saying "That's a large pie they're
       | eating and we want a bigger slice for ourselves." We could do
       | without this kind of self-serving pseudo-cosmopolitanism.
        
         | kmonsen wrote:
         | That's not really a counterpoint though. It is kind of bad for
         | the world that FAANG++ and for example most of the movie
         | industry is centered in US (west coast)?
         | 
         | Also with tensions rising there it is not good if 80% of the
         | chips are being made in a war zone. And bad for everyone but
         | China if China takes control of Taiwan.
         | 
         | I don't think any of these are value statements?
        
         | colinmhayes wrote:
         | When he says "the world" he means the US and western Europe.
        
           | m463 wrote:
           | I would say the #1 consumer good in the world (not just the
           | west) is the cellphone.
           | 
           | I would even say it is even _more_ heavily dependent on the
           | cellphone than the west.
        
         | tw04 wrote:
         | I think you missed the point. He isn't going to outright say
         | "If China decides to follow-through on their threats to invade
         | Taiwan it will cause a worldwide disruption to technology".
         | 
         | But at the end of the day, that IS reality, and it's a systemic
         | threat to both Europe and the US. The fact it's self-serving
         | doesn't make the statement any less factually accurate or
         | important.
        
       | xiphias2 wrote:
       | It's interesting that Pat hopes that Apple would want another
       | supplier, but I don't see 3nm Intel fab happening in the near
       | future.
        
         | tibbydudeza wrote:
         | Apple did it once before when it sourced CPU's from Samsung and
         | TMSC for the A9 iPhone 6S using a 14 vs 16nm node processes.
         | 
         | But I don't see why they would do it unless there was supplier
         | issues.
        
           | xiphias2 wrote:
           | People didn't like Samsung chips, they started complaining
           | about battery life, that was why Apple moved to being TSMC
           | only I think.
        
       | Zenst wrote:
       | I think Intel are more focused upon not surfing the bleeding
       | edge, more the bulk of other silicon production that is usually
       | on many generations behind. So offering those the opportunity to
       | step up in nodes for them but also using proven nodes which ,
       | whilst not bleeding edge - will do ok. That with any bleeding
       | edge needs, being open to outsourcing on a case by case bases for
       | their own parts.
       | 
       | I think for many, they view Intel based upon how well they do
       | running computer games and think the stock resolves around that
       | when we have learned that their income streams are more widely
       | spread.
       | 
       | As for alternative to TSMC, that gets down to getting ahead on
       | nodes or when nodes get to a stage that they won't get any
       | smaller. Also the work with IBM is interesting and whilst IBM
       | left the FAB industry, they still do research and that
       | combination may help Intel catchup or surpase the current cutting
       | edge TSMC offer.
       | 
       | I do feel what Intel is going for is opening up their 14nm(insert
       | plus signs to taste) as they shift their core onto the 10nm. They
       | had a lot of investment in 14nm and milked it well, but now they
       | have the opportunity to open that up and gain value from that
       | instead of the usual retooling one node into a new node and some
       | node changes will be more impacting and might well be the case.
       | Let alone the downtime and then to get the plant particle free
       | after all the work - very costly. So to cash in on that as is
       | more and just build new plants from scratch can for the
       | accountants become very much the right direction to go and that
       | is how it seems to be. More so when politically getting subsidies
       | to build new plants over retooling an existing one can make that
       | option even cheaper.
       | 
       | However it is being driven, it's good for Intel and the industry
       | as a whole as more choice. Equally I'm very interested in how
       | Intel and IBM will collaborate and have a good feeling about all
       | this.
        
         | foobarbazetc wrote:
         | This already exists/existed at GlobalFoundaries and they've
         | been closing fabs.
         | 
         | The fab business isn't great, tbh, because most of the money is
         | in the value add.
        
       | foobarbazetc wrote:
       | Sort of what he has to say to sell his fabs, no?
       | 
       | I mean, he's not saying Intel have a better product, because they
       | don't.
       | 
       | Eh.
        
       | ngngngng wrote:
       | I'm stoked. I've been a bit of an Intel hater lately but more
       | competition is good for everyone. Though I'm guessing other
       | people are excited about these directions as well because their
       | stock is pretty high at the moment.
        
         | m463 wrote:
         | There have traditionally been cycles and we all win.
         | 
         | I remember years back when AMD became competitive with intel
         | and then intel turned around and came out with fast cpus, and
         | we had all kinds of choices.
         | 
         | I think the PC is a really good thing we don't want to lose it.
         | When we have competition it is better for customers with more
         | choices, and employees who actually have to compete, and there
         | are standard interfaces new companies can develop for.
         | 
         | Honestly, what I worry about is Apple and their spiral into
         | themselves and their closed ecosystem.
         | 
         | I think Apple was at their best when the adopted the PC
         | architecture and interoperability made everything better.
        
         | stingraycharles wrote:
         | Same here, although I wouldn't call myself as much as a hater
         | as it's just schadenfreude.
         | 
         | If Intel were to double down on their own fabbing and become a
         | reasonable alternative to TSMC I think that would be great for
         | everyone.
        
       | Nokinside wrote:
       | As he says here, the decision not to take risk and jump to EUV
       | with TSMC and Samsung was the mistake that started this downfall
       | and it snowballed. The decision happened somewhere in the
       | pathfinding stage into 10nm.
       | 
       | When Gerald Marcyk was running Intel components research back in
       | the 2001 Intel was already considering using EUV lithography for
       | the 45nm technology node that would come out 2007. It turned out
       | that the switch to EUV could be delayed and delayed again. Intel
       | thought they could get away with it this last time and it was a
       | wrong decision.
       | 
       | EUV is super hard. There is only one company that can make EUV
       | lithography machines, Dutch company called ASML. TWINSCAN
       | NXE:3400B costs ~$120 million
       | https://www.asml.com/en/products/euv-lithography-systems/twi...
       | 
       | Intel, Samsung and TSMC invested billions into ASML in 2012. In
       | exchange Intel got 15% ownership, Samsung 10% and TSML 5% if I
       | remember correctly. They don't have any significant ownership
       | anymore.
        
         | rakah wrote:
         | EUV is hard, but isn't part of the reason why only ASML can
         | make those machines because of the CRADA they have with DOE as
         | a member of the EUV LLC? I believe this agreement was why ASML
         | wasn't allowed to sell their solution to China recently. I bet
         | Intel will have no trouble buying EUV to bring in-house -
         | especially if that serves US strategic interests.
        
         | baybal2 wrote:
         | Well, not to forget the 157i debacle.
         | 
         | Intel first started cheaping out as far back as 2003-2005.
         | 
         | 157i could've been almost as good as EUV, at much lower cost,
         | but Intel fully consciously decided to forego it because
         | "nobody can beat us on 193i yet," and of conern that 157i
         | consortium will give superior litho to potential competitors.
        
           | rowanG077 wrote:
           | What is 157i? Googling with various helper terms doesn't turn
           | anything up.
        
             | baybal2 wrote:
             | 157nm lithography process using fluorine excimer laser
             | light source.
        
             | trishmapow2 wrote:
             | As someone with no background knowledge, I first looked up
             | "193i" intel which lead me to the term 193nm immersion
             | lithography. After that doing the same for 157nm was
             | trivial.
        
       | brundolf wrote:
       | Is there a term for "company starts advocating a valid social
       | concern when it aligns with their interests"?
        
         | lacker wrote:
         | "standard practice"
        
         | oblio wrote:
         | It's broader than just social, but I really like "strategy
         | credit": https://stratechery.com/2013/strategy-credit/
         | 
         | Basically, do the right thing when it's easy to do, or even
         | better, it directly benefits you.
        
           | granularity wrote:
           | See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_luck
        
         | da_big_ghey wrote:
         | since social concern are in most case lead to legislationing i
         | would call "regulatory recapture".
        
         | jacquesm wrote:
         | Salon Socialism?
        
       | heckerhut wrote:
       | Time to buy some stonks
        
       | Waterluvian wrote:
       | America should use the "we need to spend spend spend to
       | revitalize the economy" to domesticate more industry.
        
         | tootie wrote:
         | Import substitution is usually a loser policy for developing
         | nations. Also subsidies can frequently run afoul of trade
         | agreements because they're basically the same as a tariff in
         | terms of disadvantaging exporters.
         | 
         | National security is not really a valid concern but could maybe
         | be used to justify divestment from China. But that just means
         | diversification of import partners. We could be building fabs
         | in Mexico like we do with the auto industry. Or, as he's
         | actually suggesting, europe.
        
         | Zenst wrote:
         | > "we need to spend spend spend to revitalize the economy"
         | 
         | Yeah, I'm showing my age but I'm reminded of a comparative
         | ethos regarding developers
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhh_GeBPOhs
        
         | paxys wrote:
         | I think a national security argument will highlight the
         | importance and urgency a lot better.
        
           | r3trohack3r wrote:
           | I think National Security might have something to do with
           | manufacturing of electronics moving outside the US. The war
           | on crypto called for manufactures to either provide two
           | versions of their product, or move manufacturing to a place
           | they could export a single product:
           | https://www.eff.org/pages/decrypting-puzzle-palace
        
             | kingaillas wrote:
             | So? Don't most manufacturers already have to provide
             | multiple product versions if they sell internationally, to
             | handle different electricity/plug differences around the
             | world (among many other things)? Maybe there is an effect,
             | but it isn't as if products sold worldwide come in one
             | version that works everywhere.
             | 
             | Corporations love excuses to differentiate (read: charge
             | more, especially for local captive customers) for products.
             | Big Pharma uses all sorts of US government programs to run
             | interference for them - patents, import/export
             | restrictions, legal buying requirements, etc - all to
             | charge more for the US version of products they sell dirt
             | cheap elsewhere.
             | 
             | Whatever "National Security" effect was present causing
             | manufacturing to move overseas was dominated by maximizing
             | profits: wringing savings out of the supply chain and lower
             | labor costs. The result was predictable.
             | 
             | I see Intel's complaint about this a way to drum up or
             | steer business their way, hobble their competitors that
             | rely on Asian chip manufacturing, seek future government
             | intervention to help them - or accomplish all of the above.
        
           | m463 wrote:
           | I wonder if environmental regulation makes it harder to
           | manufacture in the US, more specifically california.
        
         | vkou wrote:
         | As a taxpayer, I'm not particularly keen in seeing my money
         | subsidize privately owned firms.
         | 
         | Spend-spend-spend should either be done through secured loans,
         | or by the government receiving equity.
        
           | jonhohle wrote:
           | Or... products.
           | 
           | Occasionally I think about the tradeoff between municipal
           | purchases that support the community (with expanding degrees
           | of community) or which are the best for the task. Prior to
           | EVs, for example, should parking enforcement be performed in
           | a Prius to maximize long term TCO or should it use a
           | GM/Ford/Dodge and keep money in the US.
           | 
           | At least in the US we've found that major global competitors
           | control relatively critical roles in production of goods in
           | the medical space. Who is responsible for quantifying the
           | risk of being cut off from components?
        
           | tibbydudeza wrote:
           | Sometimes the govt needs to intervene and provide resources
           | when you want to get things done properly.
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Press_Program
        
             | vkou wrote:
             | Great, and it can do that in exchange for equity.
        
             | InitialLastName wrote:
             | Yes, but some of the ROI of that intervention should be
             | able to be captured by the US (as a representative of the
             | people) in the form of equity or secured loans.
             | 
             | Insisting on stimulus of private industry without equity or
             | interest is a great way to socialize losses and privatize
             | gains, as they say.
        
               | lumost wrote:
               | a great way to do this is to create a joint venture which
               | the government owns but the private company
               | operates/develops.
               | 
               | The government can later sell the stake to a private
               | party to balance out the books.
        
               | tibbydudeza wrote:
               | Agreed.
               | 
               | According to the article Alcoa operated them as a
               | contractor starting in 1956 but but later bought it
               | outright from the govt in 1982.
        
           | ajmadesc wrote:
           | Cantillion effect
        
           | greedo wrote:
           | You mean like Boeing/ULA, agriculture, mining, forestry, ad
           | infinitum?
        
           | Waterluvian wrote:
           | I agree. There's so many ways the government can spend spend
           | spend. Doesn't need to be hand outs to generate fictitous
           | fleeting economic states.
        
       | tibbydudeza wrote:
       | It it Intel speak "we can't compete against TMSC/Samsung".
        
         | NobodyNada wrote:
         | How is that? As the article explains, they have just announced
         | their plans to _directly_ compete against TSMC /Samsung as a
         | manufacturer of chips for other companies (rather than just
         | manufacturing their own designs).
         | 
         | To me, this suggests Gelsinger is confident in the company's
         | ability to get their 7nm-and-beyond processes back on track and
         | become competitive once again.
        
           | coliveira wrote:
           | > this suggests Gelsinger is confident in the company's
           | ability to get their 7nm-and-beyond processes back
           | 
           | Or it may suggest that the company wants to say anything to
           | reassure investors that it will change course and stop losing
           | market share. I wouldn't read any particular guarantee into
           | these statements.
        
           | tibbydudeza wrote:
           | Rocket Lake is still on 14nm because of issues with their
           | 10nm process and the new guy a week in is talking smack about
           | them shipping 7nm product and compete against the likes of
           | TMSC/Samsung ???.
        
             | astrange wrote:
             | They don't have to do 10 and 7 on the way to 5, right? I
             | assume they can just skip some of the work, especially if
             | the newer process is totally different anyway.
        
         | tehjoker wrote:
         | Probably. They must have either gotten a prospective deal with
         | the US state or lost some competition in Asia.
        
       | coding123 wrote:
       | We absolutely do need to keep the secrets for how this stuff is
       | made local.
        
         | jbverschoor wrote:
         | Who is we?
        
         | tehjoker wrote:
         | Why do we need to keep secrets? If chips are distributed
         | evenly, there will be no advantage given to anyone but lots of
         | people can reap the benefits.
         | 
         | I don't like nationalist arguments, but I do think it is a bad
         | idea for critical tech to be concentrated in a single place. It
         | would be good for there to be advanced manufacturing sites on
         | all six populated continents owned by different countries.
        
           | jeffreyrogers wrote:
           | > Why do we need to keep secrets?
           | 
           | Because every geopolitical competitor is keeping their own
           | secrets. Makes no sense to disadvantage yourself when your
           | peer and near-peer competitors aren't.
        
           | leetcrew wrote:
           | that would be good, but it would be even better to be the
           | people that have the advantage.
        
             | tehjoker wrote:
             | I don't understand this thinking. Why would we want to
             | impoverish others? After all, it's not like these power
             | brokers give a shit about the American public, it's about
             | great power competition.
        
               | leetcrew wrote:
               | first of all, I don't think "impoverish" is quite the
               | right word. if you have a 9700k and I buy a 10900k, my
               | cpu is faster, but your cpu is no slower than it was
               | yesterday.
               | 
               | past that, I don't really understand what there is to
               | explain. if it would be good for everyone to have $1000,
               | it would be even better (as an individual) to have
               | $10000. assuming you care about money/chips/whatever. if
               | you don't it obviously doesn't matter.
               | 
               | edit: ah, I see what you are really asking is "why should
               | we care who wins a power struggle among the world's
               | elite?". I guess maybe we shouldn't, but personally I'd
               | rather be on the winning team, even if I think the
               | "teams" are silly.
        
               | tehjoker wrote:
               | I don't see how depriving others of technological
               | advancement comports with any kind of justifiable theory
               | of social governance, it's just a method of dominating
               | others.
               | 
               | I am not convinced we even benefit much from these kinds
               | of antics. We have a few more consumer goods, but
               | fundamental goods (education, housing, medicine, food)
               | are sky-high in price, there are few worker protections,
               | and huge portions of the budget are dedicated to illegal
               | military adventures. I think cooperating and sharing
               | technology widely leads to a richer world.
        
               | dylan604 wrote:
               | Is it better to be beholden to another party, or be the
               | one the other party is beholden to? Which also means you
               | are more self-reliant. If trade relations soured to the
               | point no more chips exported to your country, how would
               | your country handle that? How long would it be before
               | other fabs could even come close to competing?
        
       | phendrenad2 wrote:
       | Wow he really said that. Kinda stupid if you ask me, people may
       | take it personally. This is why when you mean "We need a more
       | distributed supply chain" you say "we need a more distributed
       | supply chain" and don't single out a geoethnic region.
        
         | xiphias2 wrote:
         | I guess he's not used to political speech, as he has more
         | technical experience. He needs to get used to picking his words
         | more carefully.
        
           | Ar-Curunir wrote:
           | Not being xenophobic doesn't require training
        
             | kennywinker wrote:
             | Pointing out that there is a concentration of chip
             | manufacturing in one region (or even country) is not
             | xenophobic. It is globalist, and it is capitalist, but it's
             | not xenophobic any more than it is to say that the
             | concentration of social networks coming out of silicon
             | valley is a problem (it is!).
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | tester756 wrote:
             | There are at least two interpretations of his words
             | 
             | yet you picked the one that's easier to criticize, well.
        
           | zaphirplane wrote:
           | Isn't he being politically aware by not naming the Asian
           | country ? Because as a technical person what's the concern if
           | a lot of chips are made in the continent of Asia
        
             | whatshisface wrote:
             | Asia, in addition to being a continent, is an interlocked
             | geopolitical sphere, with concerns like local wars, which
             | can be amortized over by having factories in several
             | countries too far apart to fight each other practically.
        
             | xiphias2 wrote:
             | When you are a CEO of one of the biggest companies in the
             | world (or even just a commenter on HN), even the smallest
             | thing that you say can be misinterpreted by people. Pat
             | said great things, but the newspapers picked the most
             | controversial part of course.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | balls187 wrote:
         | > and don't single out a geoethnic region.
         | 
         | He didn't. Asia is a continent, and it's no different than
         | saying the biggest consumer of hot dogs is North America.
         | 
         | I'm Asian, fwiw.
        
           | jbm wrote:
           | Israel (edit: where Intel does a lot of their work) is in
           | Asia too. In a water-limited region, at that.
        
           | numpad0 wrote:
           | Asia is not a continent though, more like "other worlds that
           | don't speak Indo-European languages"
        
             | triceratops wrote:
             | > Asia is not a continent though
             | 
             | According to...?
             | 
             | And if it's not a continent, what is it?
             | 
             | > "other worlds that don't speak Indo-European languages"
             | 
             | There are hundreds of Indo-European languages spoken in
             | Asia. One of them (Hindi) is the 4th most common first
             | language in the world, after Mandarin, Spanish, and
             | English[1]. (I'm actually surprised Arabic isn't higher on
             | that list but maybe the various regional variants count as
             | different languages?)
             | 
             | I'm not sure where you're getting your geography and
             | linguistics information from.
             | 
             | 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_numbe
             | r_of...
        
               | numpad0 wrote:
               | Asia is a hyper broad term that could include areas from
               | east to Russia to just west of Turkey except Middle East.
               | Some thinks Central Asia is not or whatnot.
               | 
               | "Continent" refers to single contiguous land encircled by
               | seawater, that aren't islands, at least as I think of the
               | word.
               | 
               | > where you're getting your geography
               | 
               | It's 7:45 now where I am.
        
             | conteenants wrote:
             | "Indo" in "Indo-European" comes from India, one of the two
             | largest countries on the Asian continent. You might
             | classify some languages spoken in India as.. Indo-European.
             | Shocking. Those Indians who speak those languages.. are
             | Asian! Surprise!
             | 
             | Since you missed third grade geography, the other
             | continents in addition to Asia are Europe, North America,
             | South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and recently
             | discovered to be its own continent, Zealandia
             | 
             | Good try though, projecting your own racism onto the topic
             | at hand while simultaneously revealing incredible ignorance
        
               | numpad0 wrote:
               | So how often would you refer to people from India as
               | Asians, should you use the word?
        
               | ghufran_syed wrote:
               | I agree with your points but feel it would be better to
               | try and and aim for a more mature tone when replying to a
               | possibly less mature comment?
        
         | carmen_sandiego wrote:
         | It is specific to that part of the world. He's not worried
         | about African chip manufacturers, is he?
        
         | scsilver wrote:
         | Doesnt asia have like 3 billion people of all sorts of
         | ethnicities? Sorry 4.5 billion people.
        
         | irrational wrote:
         | How many chips are being manufactured in Antarctica, Africa,
         | Australia, Europe, Oceania, or South America?
        
         | redisman wrote:
         | How is his statement any different from saying too much of our
         | oil comes from the Middle East or too much of our wine from
         | Europe? Or are all those also forbidden statements?
        
         | hintymad wrote:
         | Is what he said true? We should really seek facts and truths
         | instead of focusing on feelings or race or ethnicity. Truth
         | does not care about feelings.
        
         | elliekelly wrote:
         | The headline is a bit editorialized. Here's what he actually
         | said:
         | 
         | > It also needs more geographically balanced supply. Today
         | there's a heavy bias to Asia. And as we've seen, coming out of
         | some of the disruptions and challenges, the world needs US and
         | European supply in a more balanced way. It's the right thing
         | for the global supply chain requirements, for both commercial
         | as well as for government and defence use as well.
        
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