How much silicon is there in Silicon Valley? Not much, if we are talking super-pure monocrystalline silicon, which is the high-end material driving the digital revolution. As with countless other advanced materials these days, most of the world’s semiconductor-grade silicon comes from Japan (yes, Japan Inc has kept on trucking even if this is rarely... Read More

Flash memory has now become the norm for hard disk drives in tablets and laptops. Manufactured in East Asia, it is a globally traded commodity much like oil or copper. The East Asian ex-factory price for a standard 16-gigabyte unit recently was less than $10. Which raises a question: how come Apple’s price is more... Read More

Silicon Valley is a famously eclectic place but even by Silicon Valley standards, Caroline Dowling had an unusual start in life. The daughter of a truck driver, she got pregnant at 15, and never finished high-school. She went on to do bartending and housework in her native Ireland, before launching herself on a business career... Read More