Up until relatively recently we were the SOTA and #1 semiconductor exporter. When people talked about the "american manufacturing sector" a significant portion of it was actually that.

Those foundries didn't go away, they're still manufacturing with the same capabilities they used to (and they're much cheaper now since they're competing with the better ones in Taiwan.)

It's good to hear TI hasn't given up on high performance SOCs as it was beginning to look like they had. But most of this stuff is still here. Freescale and many other American companies are still making the same (better even) chips they always have which is more than enough for cruise missiles (more than enough for decent PDAs and smartphones really) even without "stockpiling."

Yes and those Russian semiconductors aren't sophisticated or high end at all which supports my point. The military isn't making cellphones, they make missiles and fly jets with decade old computer chips. A few years of war with China is not going to magically eliminate all computer chips. The global market will still exist in some form and wars are far more motivating than a few government grants.

Not to mention China (and/or Taiwan) is still going to want to sell to someone to survive, and those countries can smuggle them into America - just like Russia does for it's drone industry and oil. America is much more capable in that regards with NATO and it's huge purchasing power.

I still think TI and Apple should be investing in foundries and domestically. It should just make sense as a business otherwise it's going to be a very expensive embarrassment.