INDUSTRY MANUFACTURING
“Airbus for chips” could take European chip industry to the future
The semiconductor industry is fighting an uphill battle against the forces of the globalization: could the concept of an “Airbus for chips” generate new thrust?
OVER THE PAST DECADE, the semiconductor industry was fighting an uphill battle against the forces of the globalization - and of Moore’s Law. Smaller geometries and increasingly complex manufacturing processes caused the investment for leading-edge manufacturing lines to skyrocket; the fragmented European chip industry saw its significance in the global markets dwindle. But now the concept of an “Airbus for chips” as formulated by Nellie Kroess, EU Commissioner of the Digital Agenda, could generate new thrust.
Semiconductors are at the core of just about any technical product. Microprocessors run the software that brings computers and smartphones to life; without chips, today no car would be able to drive safely - perhaps it would not even drive at all. Integrated circuits are not merely ubiquitous; they are the basis for many functions in consumer products and manufacturing equipment. What’s more: they are enablers for innovation per se, from the digitization of lighting to the smart power grid. The connected car of the future will help to keep personal mobility affordable - without the environmental problems mobility is associated with today. All these
technologies and emerging business are widely based on the availability of semiconductors.
Equally important, the semiconductor industry is a job machine: In Europe alone, more than 200.000 high value jobs are directly associated to the semiconductor value chain, from materials to chip production - not to mention the hosts of engineers and factory workers that that use these chips to design and build industrial controls, radar equipment, ECG units and all these products indispensible for modern living.
Over the past years however, government subsidies and more favourable general conditions in some Asian countries, led to the concentration of semiconductor manufacturing activities in these geographies. Increasingly, this phenomenon creates the risk that engineering and innovation - main pillars of the European economy - follow the way of manufacturing.
At the recent International Semiconductor Strategy Europe forum (ISS Europe), hosted by industry association SEMI Europe, high-ranking representatives of the European chip
Issue I 2013
www.siliconsemiconductor.net
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