A group of U.S. chip companies, including Intel, Qualcomm, Micron, and AMD, have today sent a letter to President Joe Biden to request “funding for incentives,” while Apple supplier TSMC is undertaking a considerable expansion as chip demand outstrips supply (via Reuters).
The letter to the President asked for “substantial funding for incentives for semiconductor manufacturing” to be included in his economic recovery and infrastructure plans. The letter from the U.S. firms noted that the U.S. share of semiconductor manufacturing has dropped from 37 percent in 1990 to 12 percent today.
This is largely because the governments of our global competitors offer significant incentives and subsidies to attract new semiconductor manufacturing facilities, while the U.S. does not.
Working with Congress, your administration now has a historic opportunity to fund these initiatives to make them a reality. We believe bold action is needed to address the challenges we face. The costs of inaction are high.
Intel, in particular, has suffered from a myriad of problems. With major client Apple dropping Intel for its own custom silicon, and Microsoft expected to follow suit in the near future, Intel has struggled to deliver technological innovations. This is after the company has repeatedly reported delays with its latest processors, while its main competitor, AMD, has proceeded to capture valuable market share. After a major investor pushed Intel to shake up its entire business model, the company is hoping that new CEO Pat Gelsinger will help it to find its way.
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