Posted on 09 Feb 2022
German carmaker Volkswagen Group expects the supply of semiconductors to the automotive industry to continue to be strained through 2023, the company tells Kallanish.
"At least the first half of 2022 will remain very volatile and challenging due to ongoing supply bottlenecks," the enterprise claims. "However, there will probably only be a real upward trend in 2023, when the capacities that the semiconductor manufacturers are now building arrive on the market. Then it should be possible to make more reliable predictions."
The European Union announced at Tuesday a €43 billion ($48 billion) plan to become a major chip producer and to ease dependency from Asian manufacturers for the components.
"Chips are at the center of the global technological race," EC President Ursula von der Leyen says. "The Covid-19 pandemic has painfully exposed the vulnerability of its supply chains. While the demand was increasing, we could not deliver as needed because of the lack of semiconductors."
The new Europe's Chips Act will link research and coordinate EU, and national investment. The plan will combine public and private funds to allow for state aid to get the massive investments to boost chip production.
The EC aims to more than double the EU's global market share in semiconductor production to 20% by 2030. Now, European nations only have 9% of the global market share of semiconductors.
To this end, the EC provides subsidies of €11 billion for research in the field of chips. They must come from the EU and member states. An additional sum of at least €30 billion will come from subsidies approved by member states for companies in the sector.
The funds are also intended to encourage the establishment of foreign companies. The American chip maker Intel, for example, has announced its intention to invest in Europe.
Source:Kallanish
