This is how Julia Hess, manager of the technology and geopolitics department and specialist in the supply chains of the chips field at the German think tank, explains New Responsibility Foundation
The weak point of the European microchip law is in its ignoring of subsidizing factories with old technologies, which are essential for the fields of engineering and healthcare, and instead tries to compete with China and Taiwan with advanced production technologies.
This is how Julia Hess, manager of the technology and geopolitics department and specialist in the supply chains of the chips field at the German think tank, explains New Responsibility Foundation. In an article published on the International Politics and Society website
“The European Chip Law, a bill aimed at increasing Europe’s technological competitiveness and security of supply in the semiconductor sector, focuses too much on advanced or innovative chips, and does not take into account the relevance of established semiconductor factories, where China has a stronger position.
“While chip manufacturers try to renew and double the transistor density every two years in accordance with Moore’s Law, there are other essential chips with different functions that are not necessarily processed in ultra-modern semiconductor factories. These small chips are often made in older factories, and China, along with Taiwan, remains on top of semiconductor production in older, more established factories. “
“Europe, on the other hand, remains dependent on these old factories in China and Taiwan. For industries such as the automotive, medical device and Industry 4.0 sectors, chips with a larger structural width play an important role, even more so than cutting-edge chips. By 2030, every other semiconductor found in a vehicle will be based on so-called mature junctions, which are chips with a larger structural width of at least 28 nm. European chip law does not recognize the importance of older fabs, leading to dependencies that need to be assessed and possibly reduced to increase the durability and supply of strategically important semiconductors in Europe.”
“Since these more established manufacturing processes are not eligible for subsidies for innovative semiconductors, this issue is not taken into account in the draft European chip law. If we take into account the strategic relevance of these chips for the automotive, engineering and healthcare industries, this blind spot in the legislation is completely incomprehensible. This is an area that we need to improve: a serious discussion on the reliability of supply to the end-user industries will have to address the main relevance of mature node production processes and draw conclusions on the various dependencies in this sector. Europe needs to consider the entire spectrum of chip manufacturing to position itself well strategically.” The summary of the