EC's goal: Reach 20 percent share in chip manufacturing by 2020!

The European Commission is said to have a goal: to reach 20 percent world-share in chip manufacturing by 2020! Heinz Kundert, president, SEMI Europe, has even laid out an industrial strategy that will cover three complementary lines, such as:

* Transition to 450mm, expected to primarily benefit equipment and material manufacturers in Europe.
* “More than Moore” on 200mm and 300 mm.
* “More Moore” for ultimate miniaturization on 300mm wafers.

Investment will be focusing on Europe’s clusters of excellence in manufacturing and design --- Grenoble, Dresden and Eindhoven-Leuven -- and support partnerships and alliances across the value chain in Europe.

The key question of why one needs 450mm wafers has been answered by Mike Bryant of Future Horizons. The European semiconductor industry’s vision is to recover a leading position in the world throughout the entire value chain and to reverse the current negative trend of its worldwide competitiveness.

Among the many strategies the EC is planning to adopt include:

* Benefit from a single explicit European semiconductor industry policy.
* Maintain a high level of R&D effort, in a balanced way between the 150/200/300/450mm fields, between “More Moore” and “More than Moore”.
* Strengthen all elements of the value chain, from design to application.
* Develop co-operating programs and synergy initiatives between all semiconductor actors operating in Europe.

Europe has always stressed on stronger co-operation among the other industry segments. Some of these are automotive, energy, healthcare and well-being, security and safety, etc.