Raja Manickam, founder of iVP Semiconductor, discusses how semiconductor manufacturing turns fundamental physics and chemistry into tangible products and sovereign geopolitical power.
Opinion
Manickam: India is not yet ready for a $5B advanced wafer fab
“But I don't think our country is ready for even five billion dollar fab because that's, you know, very high end, you know, nodes and all, you have to walk before we can run.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Manickam: Asian fab engineers work seven days weekly unlike US workforce
“A Korean engineer or a Taiwanese engineer, you know, will work seven days a week, right? To get the process done and so on, right? Whereas in the US, you know there is you know, much more restrictions on labor and stuff like that.”
Insight
Manickam: Indian chip startups must conquer local market before going global
“We have an opportunity to create Indian companies and the Indian companies should focus on the Indian market first, right? Because this is where you learn how to build products or you learn how to improve on a product, right? You know, quality performance, how…”
Opinion
Manickam: Supporting foreign chip GCCs is not true semiconductor sovereignty
“I think, you know, the problem that I see for India could be that because of the GCCs and, you know, because we did a lot of software, IT and all that, right? For foreign companies, right? I hope the semiconductor doesn't take that path, right? Of, you know, j…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Manickam: China will achieve self-sufficiency or cease importing US chips
“I think China will, you know, will be, you know, self-sufficient or at least, you know, make sure that they're not importing from us. So I think that is going to accelerate now.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Manickam: Global tech innovation will fragment across India, China, Europe, and Japan
“Innovation is going to become not just concentrated in one country anymore. It is going to be India. It's going to be China. It's going to be Europe. It's going to be Japan, right? So there's going to be a lot more fragmented innovation that's going to happen.”