Nations must end the US grip on the semi-conductor market, says Ma
Alibaba has bought five semi-conductor firms in the past four years, saying ‘China needs a lot of things’ but that ‘100% of the market for chips’ is controlled by the US
Tokyo — Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma argues that nations from Japan to China need to develop their own semi-conductor technology to get around America’s grip on the global chip market. The billionaire executive chair of Alibaba Group Holding, explaining the e-commerce titan’s growing interest in chips, including this month’s acquisition of China design-house Hangzhou C-Sky Microsystems, said he’s motivated in part by a desire to make chips "inclusive": cheap, efficient and available to all. He said his company has bought five semi-conductor firms in the past four years. "America was the early mover and China, we need a lot of things; 100% of the market for chips is controlled by Americans," he told students and entrepreneurs at Tokyo’s Waseda University. "And suddenly, if they stop selling — what that means, you understand. And that’s why China, Japan, and any country, you need core technologies." Ma’s comments dovetail with the views of Chinese business chieftains and politicos alike...
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