Vice President of Engineering, Qualcomm
Search every verified Chidi Chidambaram interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. At the 2023 ERI Summit, Qualcomm Vice President of Engineering Dr. PR "Chidi" Chidambaram discussed semiconductor supply chain challenges. He stated that the electronics industry has shifted from producing thousands of units to billions, with a modern smartphone containing about 70 components. Chidambaram noted that 50% of worldwide wafer capacity for legacy logic planar technology is located in China, as companies in the United States migrated to newer nodes rather than maintaining older capacity. He said that Qualcomm considers supply resilience a core aspect of chip design and attempts to multi-source and balance sourcing from different geographies based on market sales. Chidambaram highlighted the industry's vulnerability to disruptions in Taiwan, stating that a power outage there could cost Qualcomm $4 billion and the industry nearly $50 billion, with flooding in Hsinchu potentially costing $21 billion and an earthquake up to $50 billion. He also suggested that government investment in 450-millimeter wafer technology could be an interesting idea, though he noted the equipment industry is reluctant due to high investment costs and a 15–20 year recovery period.
“If there is a power outage in Taiwan we lose 10 of the capacity — that's like four billion dollars for us and almost 50 billion dollars for the industry; if there's flooding in Hsinchu it's 21 billion dollars and an earthquake could be almost 40–50 billion dollars.”
“We could invest the dollars into a 450 millimeter wafer technology — the equipment industry doesn't like this idea because they would have to invest a lot and it would take 15–20 years to recover the cost, but if there's government investment that might be an interesting idea to consider.”
Dr. PR “Chidi” Chidambaram, Qualcomm Vice President of Engineering and Fellow, presents "Semiconductor Technology and Supply Challenges."
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