Chip War - Book review

2026-05-06

As part of prepping for my new job at AMD, I picked up Chip War by Chris Miller. I wanted to know more about the company's history beyond Jerry Sanders' (founder of Advanced Micro Devices) famous quote - "Real men have fabs."

The book is a comprehensive compilation of the history, current state, and future prospects of the semiconductor industry. Like most new technologies, the semiconductor industry starts with a researcher, William Shockley, who eventually won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the transistor. Chris Miller takes us through the invention of the transistor, its commercialization, and introduction of the remaining luminaries of the industry. First come the "Traitorous Eight" who left Shockley's company to start Fairchild semiconductors. Together, they later received the "Legends of California Award" by California Historical Society. Among them were Bob noyce and Gordon Moore, who went on to found Intel. I was surprised to learn that AMD was not part of this initial history of semiconductors.

Chris Miller then introduces Moris Chang, who was part of Texas Instruments at the time. He later moves back to Taiwan and to start TSMC, the only manufacturer of advanced chips in the world. Today, TSMC contributes to about 25% of the GDP of Taiwan. I was also surprised to learn that Taiwan's largest company is actually TSMC's indirect customer: Foxconn, the largest electronics assembler in the world. Interestingly, Foxconn doesn't get any attention in the book. Another notable figure introduced in the book is Akio Morita. He started Sony in Japan,which today is a major player in the electronics industry.

That is just the beginning of the story, a teaser to intrigue you to read the book. The rest of the book explores the evolution of the technologies and how the production, supply chains, and knowledge transfer has shaped the balance of power between the US and Asian economies. Specifically, how Japan and South Korea benefit by being allies, and how China suffers from being a foe.

The NYT review of the book calls it a "nonfiction thriller". I agree.. The book is an absolute page turner. Before this, I was reading "The Golden Road" by William Dalrymple, another engaing nonfiction history book. The transition initially made me uncomfortable. Dalrymple writes like a seasoned narrative historian, while Chris Miller prefers short, direct sentences that keep the story moving quickly. His prose may lack elegance at times, but throughout the book he keeps the reader consistently curious and engaged. Even without a technical background, I suspect you would still find it compelling.

By the end, I know more about the history of AMD, its founding, and motivations. I am very excited about what's to come within the industry.

Definitely recommend it!