Since then the bullskin has not wanted to be less than the Germans. And it is that with the announcement a few weeks ago of the construction by Intel of its factories in Germany, in our country, it seems that they want to do the same. What is Europe’s plan to manufacture chips and its viability? We may be faced with the return of an industry gone a long time ago or a simple toast to the sun.
We have spoken to you several times about the regionalization process and its impact on the hardware industry. This process is totally contrary to globalization and consists of manufacturing components in the same country as the company’s head office, or if possible, in a country that is very close, politically or geographically speaking. It’s more, with the situation between China and Taiwan, on the one hand, and the continuous shutdowns of the Asian superpower, on the other. Unsurprisingly, manufacturers have decided to start targeting other countries.
In the midst of all this, the different countries are plundering their coffers to convince the big multinationals to settle there. The last to join the party? Europe wants to make chips, but amid what looks like good news on paper, we have to take into account a series of often overlooked elements.
Europe wants to donate 11 billion dollars to manufacture chips
No, it’s not so suddenly TSMC; Samsung, Intel or any other caliber foundry has decided to manufacture in Europe on its own initiative, but it is the Spanish government which, considering that it has the means of production in its hands, has taken the decision to offer 11,000 million dollars to said companies to what they manufacture in our country. In any case, this figure seems insufficient for the adoption of a state-of-the-art node, so if this were to happen, we would see components being manufactured that do not require such an advanced manufacturing process.
In any case, is it possible or, on the contrary, is it an idea that makes no sense? It’s funny that after decades of destruction of the Spanish industrial fabric and with the rising cost of energy as the main problem. Let’s not forget that TSMC waived the deployment of a factory in the United States because of these associated costs. In other words, manufacturers may find that making a chip in Europe is much more expensive than making it in other countries.
Would we want that to happen in our country? Of course, it is a market that was lost years ago, that of consumer electronics with products made in Europe. We don’t think we’ll see high-end processors and graphics cards here, perhaps a minor component of those. In any case, the world of microprocessors in Europe has been completely ignored for years, to the point that it has not been considered a professional opportunity to dedicate to it.
