Globalization is upon us regardless if you like it or not. Modern engineering products like airplanes and optical communications make the Earth smaller. Any silicon company in the world can compete with an US silicon company effectively since the end product silicon chips is so small and light in weight (high value/weight ratio). In this regard, house which cannot move or cement which is so heavy but cheap (low value/weight ratio) will not compete in a global market. There are reasons why high tech job outsources go to China and India. It is not purely based on low cost reason. If it were, why not outsource high tech jobs to South America or Africa? It is the highly educated labor force that makes the high tech job outsourcing to China and India attractive.
Analog design is an art that designs done by different people have different quality. If I do my design with high quality, few people can do the same design with the same quality that gives my design an edge in performance or yield. This edge is difficult to overcome unless someone else doing a competing design is smarter than me. This kind of competitive edge is more effective than a patent. A patent might have a way to bypass it. A high quality design cannot be bypassed easily if the design is difficult and critical enough. That is why my designs done in many small startup companies were sold to big companies at hundreds million US dollars. Of course, the design will give the purchasing company the same protection against other competitors once it is bought. That is why they are willing to pay at such a price.
I treat high tech competition to be my friend rather than my enemy. I choose this tough job as my profession not because it is easy but because it is difficult. I trust my skill and do my job efficiently. It is my belief that in a few years the circuits I help company designed will demonstrate their excellent quality (in performance and small die size) and show their value in company stock price. Most of the companies I joined have shown such a run-up period after my joining. The timing of such a run-up will depend on how fast the company can crank out new chips with my design in it.
Handyman, a scientific American in disguise.
