DIRECTION 01Status: Planned
Mobile SoC Evolution
Understanding how mobile processors evolve across generations.
SCOPE: A-SERIES & FLAGSHIP SOC GENERATIONAL PROGRESSION
STATUS: RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
RESEARCH AREA 01 // SILICON & COMPUTING
From smartphones to silicon.
01 / WHERE IT STARTED
My interest in semiconductors began with smartphones.
Since primary school, I have enjoyed comparing phone specifications and following how each generation of iPhone processors evolved.
Over time, that curiosity expanded beyond individual devices into questions about chip architecture, computing performance, and the semiconductor industry.
FIG. S.01 — ANALYTICAL SCOPE: DEVICE TO FOUNDRYCONCEPTUAL MAP
LEVEL 01 · CONSUMER HARDWAREORIGIN OF CURIOSITY
Smartphone Specifications & Generation Cycles
Comparing mobile processor generations, sustained thermal performance, battery efficiency, and secondary-market resale behavior.
LEVEL 02 · SILICON DESIGNTECHNICAL LAYER
SoC Die Layout & Microarchitecture
CPU/GPU/NPU core allocation, memory bandwidth constraints, instruction-set efficiency, and node shrink trade-offs.
LEVEL 03 · INDUSTRIAL STRUCTUREECONOMIC LAYER
Foundry Economics, Capital Intensity & Supply Chains
Leading-edge lithography bottlenecks, fab utilization, design-to-manufacturing specialization, and market valuation of semiconductor cycles.
02 / RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
Planned areas of investigation.
DIRECTION 02Status: Planned
Chip Architecture
Exploring architectural design, computing efficiency, and hardware trade-offs.
SCOPE: COMPUTE DENSITY, MEMORY HIERARCHY & EFFICIENCY
DIRECTION 03Status: Planned
Semiconductor Industry
Examining technical progress, competition, and the economics of semiconductor development.
SCOPE: CAPEX CYCLES, FOUNDRY MOATS & SUPPLY CHAINS
03 / PRICE AND VALUE — SECOND-HAND HARDWARE MARKETS
Product familiarity as an early lens on value.
During secondary school, I also spent time buying and reselling second-hand phones through Carousell, occasionally repairing faulty devices before selling them.
Back then, my decisions were mostly instinctive. I knew the products well, and that familiarity gave me a sense of what they might be worth.
It was a practical experience that still influences how I think about price and value today.
CONNECTED RESEARCH & LAB TOOLS