What if Intel produced semiconductors in Europe?
The processor giant Intel could build a large semiconductor factory in Europe. But the American company is waiting for 8 billion euros in public aid to get started. The global crisis...
07/04/2022
The processor giant Intel could build a large semiconductor factory in Europe. But the American company is waiting for 8 billion euros in public aid to get started.
The global semiconductor crisis does not affect everyone in the same way. Historical specialists in electronic products (smartphones, connected objects, etc.) have long been accustomed to production constraints. But not the automobile, which operates too tightly. Result: a brand like Ford sees its global production reduced by half because of the shortage.
The American giant Intel seems to want to take advantage of this situation since it announces that a production plant for semiconductors and microprocessors could be built in Europe. A Europe that would like its “semiconductor Airbus” after “the battery Airbus”.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger met Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, to discuss setting up Intel's first factory on the Old Continent. Remember that the American giant produces the vast majority in the United States.
Gelsinger also met with German political leaders. Moreover, Germany already seems to win the votes of the American company for the construction of a factory. This would make the second major move by an American giant in Germany after Tesla.
Unfortunately, Europe will not be able to completely reduce its dependence on foreign countries in terms of semiconductors. The greatest specialists are indeed American and Asian, and their headquarters will remain in these areas of the globe. Thierry Breton has also discussed with the CEO of TMSC, Maria Marced, again to discuss a factory in Europe.
In the meantime, the automotive industry is expecting a difficult second half of the year. Extended delivery times, options sometimes unavailable and bottlenecks in production should persist until 2022.