US fights to make up lost ground in chip production
President Joe Biden’s executive order calling for a review of supply chains for critical products puts a spotlight on the decades-long decline in US semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
Semiconductors are the logic and memory chips used in computers, phones, vehicles and appliances. The US share of global semiconductor fabrication is only 12%, down from 37% in 1990, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
It might not seem important that 88% of the semiconductor chips used by US industries, including the automotive and defense industries, are fabricated outside the US. However, three issues make where they are made critical to the US as the global leader in electronics: lower capability, high global demand and limited investment.
Lower capability
The increasing reliance by US chip companies on international partners to fabricate the chips they design reflects the United States’ diminished capability.
US semiconductor companies have 47% of the global chip sales market, but only 12% are manufactured in the US. Meeting expectations for ever faster and smarter electronics requires chip design innovation, which, in turn, is dependent on the most advanced fabrication technologies available.
https://asiatimes.com/2021/03/us-fights-to-make-up-lost-ground-in-chip-production/
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