EC president promises European Chips Act to quadruple homegrown production by 2030
(2022/01/21)
- Reference: 1642747444
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/01/21/european_chips_act/
- Source link:
The European Commission will introduce legislation next month designed to turn the continent into a center of chip expertise and manufacturing.
The EC will propose the European Chips Act in early February, which will boost Europe's infrastructure for the production and supply chain of chip manufacturing, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the commission, in [1]an address to the World Economic Forum on Thursday.
The goal is to raise Europe's market share of global chip production to 20 per cent by 2030, which would mean quadrupling the EU's current output, she said, and would involve state aid to build "first of a kind" production facilities.
[2]
EC president Ursula von der Leyen
"Today, most of our supplies come from a handful of producers outside Europe. And this is a dependency and uncertainty we simply cannot afford," von der Leyen said. "We will create more balanced interdependencies and we will build supply chains we can trust by avoiding single points of failure."
Europe today relies heavily on factories in Asia for its chip supplies, with shipping and fuel adding to the cost of semiconductors.
[3]
The top three foundries in the world, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung, and China-based UMC, have no presence in Europe, with most of their manufacturing based in Asia and to some extent in the US. These giants accounted for close to 77 per cent of worldwide foundry revenue in the third quarter of last year, according to Trendforce.
[4]
[5]
The fourth largest foundry, GlobalFoundries, has facilities in Dresden, Germany, which account for just about six per cent of worldwide foundry revenue.
Intel also has facilities in Ireland, which are being upgrading to make 7nm chips by 2023, and is considering [6]expanding considerably on the European mainland. In mid-2021, the corporation said it hopes to invest as much as €80bn into the project, and indicated it will seek government subsidies to part fund this, as [7]previously reported .
[8]
Conveniently, the European Chips Act could potentially open up billions in funding from governments to encourage chip companies to boost operations in the region.
"The European need for chips will double in the next decade. And this is why we need to radically raise Europe's game on the development production," von der Leyen said, adding: "The world's production itself will double so this means quadrupling today's European production."
A difference of approach
The US and China are also prioritizing semiconductors and focusing on localizing supply chains. The EU, on the other hand, is looking to strengthen its local infrastructure to supplement a stronger globalized supply chain.
"Europe will always work to keep global markets open and connected. This is in the world's interest and it's in our own interest," von der Leyen said.
The chip-supply concentration wasn't considered an issue until geopolitics, trade wars, and the pandemic highlighted the need to get extra manufacturing capabilities locally, John Abbott, an analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence, told The Register .
[9]
"It has brought in funding from governments that realized that this is a critical matter for them as well if they can't control the supply chains," Abbott said.
[10]US-China chip cold war? It's only helping the Middle Kingdom, silicon makers warn
[11]Google wants US government to help develop chiplet design standards, so they're easier to make and buy
[12]Sir Clive Sinclair inspired me and 'whole load of others' at Arm, says CEO Simon Segars
[13]European Commission sticks 'in-depth' antitrust probe into Nvidia-Arm merger plan
At the same time, the globalization of chip research and supply is important for areas like HPC, which is highly collaborative and hard to disentangle, Abbott continued.
The EU-funded European Processor Initiative (EPI) in December [14]concluded the first phase of its efforts to create made-in-Europe chips. One EPI achievements was the creation of Rhea, a processor that combines Arm and RISC-V CPU cores and is designed for Europe's first exascale computer scheduled to go live next year.
The Rhea chip is being developed by SiPearl, whose CEO Philippe Notton in a previous interview with The Register noted that he was looking at creating a processor based on the open-source RISC-V instruction set specification; we note that top-end Arm cores eventually made it into the mix. The goal is to create technology in Europe, and to cut the cost and bureaucracy involved in licensing intellectual property from companies, Notton said.
"Semiconductors, of course we need. Now it's a political fact," Notton opined. ®
PS: While we were preparing to publish this story, it [15]emerged in Time magazine that Intel intends to build $20bn fabrication facilities in Ohio, USA.
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_22_443
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/01/20/ursula_von_der_leyen.jpg
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YeqSciRow19INVslVsZ0bAAAAMo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/07/intels_80bn_european_chip_plant/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/12/intel_eu_chip_fabs/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YeqSciRow19INVslVsZ0bAAAAMo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/15/us_china_chip_war/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/15/usa_100_day_semiconductor_supply_chain_review/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/20/arm_ceo_sinclair/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/28/eu_nvidia_arm/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/24/european_processor_initiative_phase_one_concludes/
[15] https://time.com/6140476/intel-building-factory-ohio/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The EC will propose the European Chips Act in early February, which will boost Europe's infrastructure for the production and supply chain of chip manufacturing, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the commission, in [1]an address to the World Economic Forum on Thursday.
The goal is to raise Europe's market share of global chip production to 20 per cent by 2030, which would mean quadrupling the EU's current output, she said, and would involve state aid to build "first of a kind" production facilities.
[2]
EC president Ursula von der Leyen
"Today, most of our supplies come from a handful of producers outside Europe. And this is a dependency and uncertainty we simply cannot afford," von der Leyen said. "We will create more balanced interdependencies and we will build supply chains we can trust by avoiding single points of failure."
Europe today relies heavily on factories in Asia for its chip supplies, with shipping and fuel adding to the cost of semiconductors.
[3]
The top three foundries in the world, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung, and China-based UMC, have no presence in Europe, with most of their manufacturing based in Asia and to some extent in the US. These giants accounted for close to 77 per cent of worldwide foundry revenue in the third quarter of last year, according to Trendforce.
[4]
[5]
The fourth largest foundry, GlobalFoundries, has facilities in Dresden, Germany, which account for just about six per cent of worldwide foundry revenue.
Intel also has facilities in Ireland, which are being upgrading to make 7nm chips by 2023, and is considering [6]expanding considerably on the European mainland. In mid-2021, the corporation said it hopes to invest as much as €80bn into the project, and indicated it will seek government subsidies to part fund this, as [7]previously reported .
[8]
Conveniently, the European Chips Act could potentially open up billions in funding from governments to encourage chip companies to boost operations in the region.
"The European need for chips will double in the next decade. And this is why we need to radically raise Europe's game on the development production," von der Leyen said, adding: "The world's production itself will double so this means quadrupling today's European production."
A difference of approach
The US and China are also prioritizing semiconductors and focusing on localizing supply chains. The EU, on the other hand, is looking to strengthen its local infrastructure to supplement a stronger globalized supply chain.
"Europe will always work to keep global markets open and connected. This is in the world's interest and it's in our own interest," von der Leyen said.
The chip-supply concentration wasn't considered an issue until geopolitics, trade wars, and the pandemic highlighted the need to get extra manufacturing capabilities locally, John Abbott, an analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence, told The Register .
[9]
"It has brought in funding from governments that realized that this is a critical matter for them as well if they can't control the supply chains," Abbott said.
[10]US-China chip cold war? It's only helping the Middle Kingdom, silicon makers warn
[11]Google wants US government to help develop chiplet design standards, so they're easier to make and buy
[12]Sir Clive Sinclair inspired me and 'whole load of others' at Arm, says CEO Simon Segars
[13]European Commission sticks 'in-depth' antitrust probe into Nvidia-Arm merger plan
At the same time, the globalization of chip research and supply is important for areas like HPC, which is highly collaborative and hard to disentangle, Abbott continued.
The EU-funded European Processor Initiative (EPI) in December [14]concluded the first phase of its efforts to create made-in-Europe chips. One EPI achievements was the creation of Rhea, a processor that combines Arm and RISC-V CPU cores and is designed for Europe's first exascale computer scheduled to go live next year.
The Rhea chip is being developed by SiPearl, whose CEO Philippe Notton in a previous interview with The Register noted that he was looking at creating a processor based on the open-source RISC-V instruction set specification; we note that top-end Arm cores eventually made it into the mix. The goal is to create technology in Europe, and to cut the cost and bureaucracy involved in licensing intellectual property from companies, Notton said.
"Semiconductors, of course we need. Now it's a political fact," Notton opined. ®
PS: While we were preparing to publish this story, it [15]emerged in Time magazine that Intel intends to build $20bn fabrication facilities in Ohio, USA.
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_22_443
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/01/20/ursula_von_der_leyen.jpg
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YeqSciRow19INVslVsZ0bAAAAMo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YeqSciRow19INVslVsZ0bAAAAMo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YeqSciRow19INVslVsZ0bAAAAMo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/07/intels_80bn_european_chip_plant/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/12/intel_eu_chip_fabs/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YeqSciRow19INVslVsZ0bAAAAMo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YeqSciRow19INVslVsZ0bAAAAMo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/15/us_china_chip_war/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/15/usa_100_day_semiconductor_supply_chain_review/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/20/arm_ceo_sinclair/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/28/eu_nvidia_arm/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/24/european_processor_initiative_phase_one_concludes/
[15] https://time.com/6140476/intel-building-factory-ohio/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
anonymous boring coward
Makes sense. It's not as if China is above state intervention. It's a matter of preparing fertile ground.
And EU has the clout.
Beware of the tiny witch
_LC_
I can tell you how the promises of “Flinten-Uschi” (that's what she's called in Germany) worked out in the past: utter failure at quadrupled costs.
It will fail
steamnut
The shortages of ICs which,for example, are hampering the car industries' ability to delivery new vehicles will not be solved with the EU's "grand design". It just will not work.
Apart from the problems, and costs, of creating all documentation in the 24 official languages, there are too many vested interests at play. The French and Germans will want the lion's share of the action but the cheaper-labour members will want the GDP value too. And while they figth amongst themselves the world will move on.
And that is assuming that the EU will ever come up with a single chip design that is good enough to rival the off the shelf options from Intel, AMD and ARM licensees. Right now the big players are already planning their next evolutions and expanded foundries while the EU does not have anything to offer now or even an empty foundry waiting for its first contract.
Today's designers are not going to design-in an EU concept IC, they are going to select something already available. Waiting for the "new" EU chip would be suicide.
This will be a repeat of the UK's Inmos saga but with even more money being wasted. After the beef and butter mountains, expect a chip mountain......
Sentiment is correct
"Europe will always work to keep global markets open and connected. This is in the world's interest and it's in our own interest," von der Leyen said.
What does Micron say though?