Europe wants to become a leader in chips. But it's going to need help
European Union lawmakers have laid out ambitious plans to significantly ramp up production of semiconductors in the bloc and become a global leader in the industry.
To do that, it will need some of the key players from Asia and the U.S. to invest heavily in the continent, given the EU's lack of technology in critical areas like manufacturing, analysts said.
On Tuesday, the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, launched the European Chips Act — a multi-billion euro attempt to secure its supply chains, avert shortages of semiconductors in the future, and promote investment into the industry. It still requires approval from EU lawmakers to pass.
Chips are critical for products from refrigerators to cars and smartphones, but a global crunch has impacted industries across the board causing production standstills and shortages of products.
Semiconductors have become a national security issue for the U.S., and has even become a point of geopolitical tension between the U.S. and China. That clash over semiconductors has led to sanctions on China's biggest chipmaker SMIC and the world's second-largest economy doubling down on efforts to boost self-sufficiency.
The EU is now trying to mitigate some of those risks with its latest proposal.
“Faced with growing geopolitical tensions, fast growth in demand, and the possibility of further disruptions in the supply chain, Europe must use its strengths and put in place effective mechanisms to establish greater leadership positions and ensure security of supply within the global industrial chain,” the European Commission said.
Manufacturing challenge
The EU Chips Act looks to plough 43 billion euros ($49 billion) of investment into the semiconductor industry and help the bloc to become an “industrial leader” in the future.
Specifically, the EU wants to boost its market share of chip production to 20% by 2030, from 9% currently, and produce the “most sophisticated and energy-efficient semiconductors in Europe.”
Part of its plan involves reducing “excessive dependencies,” though the EU notes the need for partnerships with “like-minded partners.”
As it looks to become more self-sufficient, the EU will still rely heavily on the U.S. and in particular, Asia. That's because of the quirks of the semiconductor supply chain and the changing nature of the industry.
Over the last 15 years or so, companies have begun shifting to a fabless model — where they design chips but outsource the manufacturing to a foundry.
In the actual manufacturing of chips, Asian companies now dominate, led by Taiwan's TSMC which has about a 50% market share in terms of foundry revenue. South Korea's Samsung is the next biggest, followed by Taiwan's UMC.
U.S. firm Intel, which was once a key player, has fallen behind in recent years. However, it is now focusing on the foundry business and plans to make chips for other players. But its technology still remains behind the likes of TSMC and Samsung which can make the most cutting-edge chips that go into the latest smartphones, for example. Intel said last year it plans to spend $20 billion on two new chip plants in Arizona, in a bid to catch up.
The EU, however, has no companies that can manufacture the latest chips.
“The primary area the EU will need to partner is in bleeding edge wafer manufacturing. EU players today are stuck at 22nm and it's unrealistic to think that local EU players can catch up from 22nm (nanometers) to 2nm,” Peter Hanbury, a semiconductor analyst at research firm Bain, told CNBC.
The nanometer number indicates the size of the transistors on the chip. A small number means a higher number of transistors can fit, leading to potentially more powerful chips. The chip in Apple's latest iPhone, for example, is 5nm. These are considered the leading-edge chips.
EU companies may also rely on semiconductor design tools from the U.S.
Boosting chip production to 20% market share is an “an extremely tall order” for the EU, according to Geoff Blaber, CEO of CCS Insights. “The focus on manufacturing is the biggest challenge there,” Blaber told CNBC.
欧盟立法者制定了雄心勃勃的计划，以显着提高欧盟的半导体产量，并成为该行业的全球领导者。 分析师表示，要做到这一点，鉴于欧盟在制造业等关键领域缺乏技术，它需要亚洲和美国的一些主要参与者在非洲大陆进行大量投资。
周二，欧盟执行机构欧盟委员会启动了《欧洲芯片法》——一项耗资数十亿欧元的尝试，以确保其供应链安全，避免未来半导体短缺，并促进对该行业的投资。它仍然需要欧盟立法者的批准才能通过。
芯片对冰箱、汽车和智能手机等产品至关重要，但全球危机已经影响了各行各业，导致生产停顿和产品短缺。
半导体已成为美国的国家安全问题，甚至成为中美地缘政治紧张的焦点。这场关于半导体的冲突导致对中国最大的芯片制造商中芯国际和世界第二大经济体的制裁加倍努力提高自给自足。
欧盟现在正试图通过其最新提案来减轻其中一些风险。
“面对日益加剧的地缘政治紧张局势、需求快速增长以及供应链进一步中断的可能性，欧洲必须发挥自身优势，建立有效机制，在全球产业链中确立更大的领导地位，确保供应安全， ”欧盟委员会说。
制造挑战
《欧盟芯片法》希望向半导体行业投入 430 亿欧元（490 亿美元），并帮助欧盟在未来成为“行业领导者”。
具体来说，欧盟希望到 2030 年将其芯片生产的市场份额从目前的 9% 提高到 20%，并生产“欧洲最先进、最节能的半导体”。
其计划的一部分涉及减少“过度依赖”，尽管欧盟指出需要与“志同道合的伙伴”建立伙伴关系。
随着它看起来变得更加自给自足，欧盟仍将严重依赖美国，尤其是亚洲。这是因为半导体供应链的怪癖和行业不断变化的性质。
在过去 15 年左右的时间里，公司开始转向无晶圆厂模式——他们设计芯片，但将制造外包给代工厂。
在芯片的实际制造中，亚洲公司现在占据主导地位，以台湾台积电为首，在代工收入方面拥有约 50% 的市场份额。韩国三星位居第二，台湾联电紧随其后。
曾经是关键参与者的美国公司英特尔近年来已经落后。不过，它现在专注于代工业务，并计划为其他玩家制造芯片。但它的技术仍然落后于台积电和三星等公司，这些公司可以制造用于最新智能手机的最尖端芯片。英特尔去年表示，它计划斥资 200 亿美元在亚利桑那州新建两家芯片工厂，以迎头赶上。
然而，欧盟没有可以制造最新芯片的公司。
“欧盟需要合作的主要领域是尖端晶圆制造。研究公司贝恩 (Bain) 的半导体分析师彼得汉伯里 (Peter Hanbury) 告诉 CNBC，今天的欧盟玩家被困在 22 纳米，认为当地的欧盟玩家可以从 22 纳米（纳米）赶上 2 纳米是不现实的。
纳米数表示芯片上晶体管的大小。数量少意味着可以容纳更多数量的晶体管，从而可能产生更强大的芯片。例如，苹果最新款 iPhone 的芯片是 5nm。这些被认为是领先的芯片。
欧盟公司也可能依赖美国的半导体设计工具。
CCS Insights 首席执行官 Geoff Blaber 表示，将芯片产量提高到 20% 的市场份额对欧盟来说是一项“极其艰巨的任务”。 “对制造业的关注是那里最大的挑战，”布拉伯告诉 CNBC。
