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Blogs - What is the UK CMOS chip Strategy?

                

What is the UK CMOS chip Strategy?

This is not a rhetoric question. I simply would like to know what is the chip strategy of the world’s 5th economy? After 42 years working in CMOS I have few connections. I asked my colleagues in the UK Council of Science and Technology (CST), Engineering and Physics Science Research Council (EPSRC), Scottish Enterprise (SE), The National Microelectronics Institute (NMI), The Silicon Catalyst UK. No clear answers? Perhaps the UK Government policy is very secret, or it does not exist at all?

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I know much more about the CMOS strategy of rest of the Western World:
 
As usual US is leading: In May this year the US Senate approved $52B to boost the US Microelectronics https://lnkd.in/g3QX5WTg. They twisted the TSMC hands to start the construction of the Arizona CMOS plant 7 months ago https://lnkd.in/gMV5KCYZ. The same with Samsung announcing in November plans to build a $17B plant in Texas. In September Intel became the winner of the US Government project to develop foundry ecosystem https://lnkd.in/g25Uh3wz. This followed the Intel announcement to build a $20B foundry in Arizona https://lnkd.in/g4X39esM and their plans to win back the CMOS technology supremacy https://lnkd.in/g4A7GR8G. Clearly US is on the path of complete chip sufficiency and perhaps supremacy once again.

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The European efforts are led by Germany. A clear picture of the recent European (and the US) chip manufacturing decline was painted in the ZVEI report ‘Semiconductor Strategy for Germany and Europe’ https://lnkd.in/gW-VPhia. In a stroke of a genius Bosh opened in October an automotive chip plant in the middle of the chip crisis https://lnkd.in/gumXjs8k. High level EU rhetoric has been followed in September by the preparation EU 'Chips Act' to promote semiconductor self-sufficiency https://lnkd.in/g7Qyc-9M.
 
In September Japan announced $6.8B to boost its microelectronic industry https://lnkd.in/g87bZkBf.
 
And, of course, to great extend this is in response to the chip manufacturing advances in China.
 
The top four world economies are acting, so what is happening in the fifth one - UK? I still do not now? Are we teaming up with Europe or with US, or with both? How this will work in the present political climate?

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