Off-shore outsource DFT vs. build off-shore branch offices

Outsourcing is the result of maturation in an industry: as an industry matures, skills are automated and inevitably become commoditized. When commoditization occurs, the work goes to those who best compete with the lowest common denominators of trained labor, low-cost resources, and affordable capital. Outsourcing seems to be an attractive means for cost containment for semiconductor industry as both market and profit margins have tightened. Corporations should focus on core and outsource context. Core means the activity that directly affects the competitive advantage of an organization, which differentiates a company from its competitors. All other activities are context. The good news is that one company's context may be another company's core.