Relative to the software industry, the chip industry has a vast number of highly-obfuscated dependencies, nearly-infinite supply chains, and zero margin for error. Robust profitability, let alone innovation, is very difficult to achieve without monstrous scale. The majority of recent semiconductor industry gains have come only through consolidation, giving chip suppliers more bargaining power while letting them cut staff.
The only area in the semiconductor industry that I'd consider marginally worth getting into is analog or RF IC design, but that's predicated on lots of VC bucks chasing the last scraps of quick-win innovation (mostly in the Bay Area).
So even before picking an area to focus on, I'd take a deep look at your motivation for wanting to get into the chip industry in the first place. As someone who's been in & out of the chip industry a few times, I can tell you that there must be hundreds of other industries that are more lucrative and rewarding than the chip industry, while still giving you whatever it is you're seeking.
I was a firmware/software engineer at a semiconductor company. Sadly the most common thing the EE design coworkers were asking me on the side was how they can move into the software industry. And these were brilliant engineers and technical leads. Now I see many years later that some have made that transition.
This mirrors what I saw as a employee of a non-semiconductor company in the middle of a big chip incubator.
Judging from the cars, the normal people making the most money were the tradesmen building the infrastructure for the tools. The chip guys seemed to work long hours, but relatively few were expressing their compensation with tokens. They also seemed to purge people between projects.
I have 15 years of experience as a driver developer and computer architect. This comment is spot-on. As an employee you will have very few potential employers in the semiconductor industry and it's very unlikely that we will see a significant change.
In the software world not only you have much more variety of work and potential employers, but it's much more likely that new exciting startups/unicorns will succeed in the next few years.
While I enjoy my current job and I have a great boss, if I could go back to my college years, I would steer my career in a different direction.
The only area in the semiconductor industry that I'd consider marginally worth getting into is analog or RF IC design, but that's predicated on lots of VC bucks chasing the last scraps of quick-win innovation (mostly in the Bay Area).
So even before picking an area to focus on, I'd take a deep look at your motivation for wanting to get into the chip industry in the first place. As someone who's been in & out of the chip industry a few times, I can tell you that there must be hundreds of other industries that are more lucrative and rewarding than the chip industry, while still giving you whatever it is you're seeking.