I think a big reason these companies are laying people off is because we actually did increase their taxes. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Trump’s only major legislation passed) changed the rules on R&D deductions after 2022 to balance the other cuts and allow Senate Republicans to pass the bill without a supermajority (through Reconciliation). This was meant to be a poison pill that everyone expected would get repealed before it went into effect, but efforts to repeal it fell apart.

Required R&D cost amortization

Under I.R.C. §174, a current deduction is allowed for research and experimental expenditures paid or incurred in tax years beginning before 2022. The TCJA amended I.R.C. §174 such that, beginning in 2022, firms that invest in R&D are no longer able to currently deduct their R&D expenses. Rather, they must amortize their costs over five years, starting with the midpoint of the taxable year in which the expense is paid or incurred. For costs attributable to research conducted outside the U.S., such costs must be amortized over 15 years. This will be the first time since 1954 that companies will have to amortize their R&D costs, rather than immediately deduct those expenses.

https://pro.bloombergtax.com/brief/rd-tax-credit-and-deducting-rd-expenditures/

https://youtu.be/1ecu0YsCGxg?si=zh-39-HMHif-zvaU

The model 3 RWD is basically already there in many places, ~$36k pre-tax incentives (Colorado tax incentive brings it down to $31k) and EPA est 272mi range (Out of Spec got 264mi in their 70mph range test). What we really need is something in this class for $20-25k.

Well they’ve made it pretty clear why they’re using this particular steel. The goal is to create a relatively cheap, reusable rocket. The strength of the steel helps make up for the increased density since you can use thinner panels. They also don’t have to paint them. This leads to a small difference in total weight.

The compromise they’re going for is giving up a slight amount of capacity to decrease cost of materials, increase production volume, and hopefully improve the reusability and lower the total maintenance.

They’re not trying to build the highest performance rockets, they want the lowest cost for the level of performance they’re targeting. That’s not to say it will necessarily work out, but they’ve obviously done the math on the compromise and think it’s beneficial in the long run.

Of the many issues Starship has had, it doesn’t seem like the steel skin is one of them. It’s just one of a million design choices you have to make for any rocket.

Ryzen desktop chips use the same compute chiplets as server (server has a long tail for adoption and a steady need for replacement parts), so they have a large supply of chiplets that don’t meet server requirements but can be downclocked or given more voltage for desktop. This also fulfills the low end desktop market, so they don’t have to produce lower end chips on more expensive nodes. There’s also a lot of AM4 platforms that can get a new lease on life with a drop in Zen3 replacement.

Then you also have supply from the laptop side with similar issues (don’t meet voltage requirements for efficiency), which is where the APUs come from.