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The European Union should guard against relying on a handful of “very big” chip producers as it weighs billions of euros of potential investment in semiconductors, the bloc’s digital policy chief Margrethe Vestager told Bloomberg TV.
European leaders have called for more investment to alleviate a supply shortage that has rippled through several industries, and companies such as California-based Intel Corp, which has a facility in Leixlip, Co Kildare, have been chasing European support to help increase local capacity.
But Vestager, who is also in charge of competition matters, showed scepticism about funding for production facilities, saying support for semiconductors needs to aim instead for “a much more diversified supply chain”.
“It’s important that we focus on the global market... also European production is meant for a global market, because we get the right competitive pressure,” she said in an interview in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday. “We cannot just have it that we depend on very few, very big chip producers.”
Substantial investment
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called for substantial investment in the semiconductor industry earlier on Wednesday. She said the commission would present a new “European Chips Act” in the coming weeks aimed at linking together world-class research, design, testing and production capabilities.
In response to the announcement, Eamonn Sinnott, general manager of Intel Ireland, said the company “has plans to invest billions of euros in new leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Europe. Today’s announcement of an EU chip Act to foster a vibrant, cutting-edge and future-proof semiconductor ecosystem in Europe is a welcome step and aligned with our shared ambitions to reinvigorate the sector in the EU.”
Intel’s smaller European rivals Infineon Technologies AG and STMicroelectronics NV have also expressed doubts about a push for cutting-edge chips, instead of serving up less-advanced semiconductors needed for automotive, industrial and internet-of-things production.
Game consoles
Vestager’s comments come as chip shortages ripple through industry after industry – preventing companies from fulfilling demand for products from cars to game consoles and refrigerators. In response, the EU wants to double its chip production to at least 20 per cent of global supply in the next decade.
Vestager is also examining Nvidia Corp’s bid for UK-based chip developer Arm Ltd. Rivals and customers have complained that the new ownership could alter Arm’s neutral role as the Switzerland of the semiconductor industry in licensing chip designs widely.
– Bloomberg