STOCKHOLM/BRUSSELS: The European Commission's plan to make the continent more lucrative for investing in semiconductor factories will likely skew the benefits towards larger countries such as Germany, France and Italy, analysts say.
Chip manufacturing in Europe has dropped from 24 per cent of global production capacity in 2000 to a current 8per cent, and chipmaker ASML warned that it could fall to 4 per cent if no action is taken. Industry sources pointed to more global collaboration with other regions as the chip supply chain spans the world, otherwise it would cost at least €1 trillion for a fully autonomous chip supply chain.
Germany, France and Italy had earlier provided state aide for building competency around microelectronics through Important Projects of Common European Interest with a funding budget of €2 billion.