Why are PNP transistors more expensive to make? NPN cheaper?

Hi Greg,

Thanks for considering Texas Instruments as your 'go-to' place for answers.  However, the transistor was 'born' at Bell Labs (1), the Integrated Circuit was 'born' at TI. And since we do not provide transistors, I cannot comment on the reason for the price differential.

Regards,

~Leonard

(1)Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor

That is strange? .. this book says different unless the author is wrong

After working quietly and under strict confidentiality at TI for over a year,
Teal was finally able to successfully fabricate the world’s first silicon transistor.
He announced his creation to the world in a most unusual way. While attend-
ing a technical conference, Teal watched as one speaker after another extolled
the virtues of a theoretical silicon transistor and then lamented the frustrations
of being unable to solve the requisite fabrication challenges. When it was at last
Teal’s turn to speak, he simply walked to the podium, played music from an
audio amplifier made with a germanium transistor, then dropped the transis-
tor circuit board into a glass of boiling water. To no one’s surprise, the music
went dead, because the germanium transistor could not function at 100º C, the
temperature at which water boils. Teal then casually took out from his pocket
a replacement transistor, pressed play again, and then immersed that circuit
board in the boiling water. This time, the music kept playing. Slowly, it dawned
on the audience what exactly they had just witnessed. As the assembled crowd
broke into uproarious applause, Teal dramatically announced TI’s spectacular
success in ushering in the new age of silicon electronics.

Conquering the Electron - Derek Cheung pg219

I guess Bell Labs did invent it first by a few months

First silicon transistor and integrated circuits
Transistorized "logic" chip, an integrated circuit produced by TI

In January 1954 Morris Tanenbaum at Bell Labs created the first workable silicon transistor.[16] This work was reported in the spring of 1954, at the IRE off-the-record conference on Solid State Devices, and was later published in the Journal of Applied Physics​. Working independently in April 1954, Gordon Teal at TI created the first commercial silicon transistor and tested it on April 14, 1954. On May 10, 1954, at the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) National Conference on Airborne Electronics in Dayton, OH,Teal presented a paper: "Some Recent Developments in Silicon and Germanium Materials and Devices,".[17]

en.wikipedia.org/.../Texas_Instruments

Hi Greg,

 Well, I stand corrected, as from our History page ( http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history.html ): 

1950s

We officially become Texas Instruments Incorporated, entering the semiconductor industry by inventing the silicon transistor in 1954. In 1958, TIer Jack Kilby invents the integrated circuit, revolutionizing the semi- conductor industry and paving the way for all modern electronics.

 

And since we do not manufacture transistors, I still cannot answer your initial question.

~Leonard