4o Silicon Alone Is Not The Product Silicon is the centerpiece of semiconductor innovation, but a bare die is not a product. What comes out of a foundry is an ultra-thin, unprotected sliver of silicon that cannot survive real-world application environments. It lacks mechanical durability, electrical connectivity, and environmental protection. No system designer can solder a raw die onto a board or expose it to industrial use conditions without risking catastrophic failure. The die may contain billions of transistors, but it is inaccessible and incomplete without packaging and interface layers. The core reasons why silicon is not a finished product: More importantly, silicon alone does not deliver functionality. Modern chips require configuration, calibration, and system-level interaction before performing as intended. A die sitting in a tray does […]