Quote from: FNG on September 03, 2013, 07:12:51 AM

Quote from: stripykitteh on September 03, 2013, 07:07:14 AM

Quote from: Vycid on September 03, 2013, 06:53:43 AM

Point is - you should recognize FC has one year of direct experience and this guy has decades of related experience.

That also ties in to a wider point; i.e., there are *hundreds* of vastly experienced chip designers with experience working for Intel, AMD, Samsung, et cetera who are capable of designing a 28nm ASIC. Acquiring the talent is not a big hurdle and there are probably a few more Cointerras lurking in the wings right now.

Exactly. Money buys talent. AM has money. I don't see how one name attached to cointerra threatens AM so significantly.

AM has a massive head start and funds to buy whatever skillset or expertise they may be lacking

They do, but they won't be able to lock up all the talent. Nor will having money beyond a certain point make any difference, and it looks as though the cost of bringing a 28nm ASIC to market isn't that high a hurdle either. I think you are mistaken in thinking AM have a big lead over their competition. They will have a place in the market in the short to medium term, but there's no 'moat' around their business, unlike the ones Microsoft and Oracle enjoy. Anyone with a few million and the right contacts in the semiconductor industry can start eating into AsicMiner's market share within a few months. Jeepers, bitfury isn't even a qualified EE apparently and he's eating friedcat's lunch right now using 65nm.