Chipmakers to build semiconductor factory in France
11 July 2022 - 17:30
by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Supantha Mukherjee
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Picture: CONFLICT ARMAMENT RESEARCH/HANDOUT via REUTERS
Paris/Stockholm — Chipmakers STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries announced on Monday plans to build a semiconductor factory in France, drawing on funding from the government, the latest move to boost output in the region.
The project represents the lion’s share of the €6.7bn of investment from big global companies that President Emmanuel Macron is due to announce at this year’s Choose France summit in Versailles.
The US and the EU have been pushing for home-grown chip factories by offering billions in state subsidies to cut dependency on Asian suppliers and ease a global chip shortage which has created havoc for car makers.
This facility, which will be next to STM’s existing plant in Crolles, is targeted to reach full capacity by 2026, with up to 620,000 wafers per year of production at a size of 18-nanometers, the statement said. Those are used in automotive, Internet of Things and mobile applications.
The companies did not disclose the amount of investment at the new site near the Italian and Swiss borders or how much funding the French state would provide.
French presidential advisers said they could not disclose the subsidy amount as they hoped there will be money from the European Commission as part of the Chips Act, the budget for which has yet to be negotiated.
In a call with journalists, the companies said the investment would be challenging without participation from the French government.
A person familiar with the matter said that the total investment would be about $5.7bn. Macron’s office said the French president would visit the factory site and it represented an investment of more than €5.7bn. Spokespeople for GlobalFoundries and STMicro declined to comment.
The new factory would create about 1,000 new jobs and also help STMicro reach its target to boost revenue to above $20bn.
“We will have more capacity to support our European and global customers as they transition to digitalisation and decarbonisation,” STMicroelectronics CEO Jean-Marc Chery said.
While STMicro had earlier disclosed plans to double its investments this year to up to $3.6bn, GlobalFoundries has been expanding in the US, Germany and Singapore.
The European Commission earlier this year eased funding rules for innovative semiconductor plants as part of the European Chips Act as the bloc seeks to double its global market share to 20% in 2030.
In March Intel laid out plans for an $88bn investment across Europe and picked Germany as the site for a huge new chipmaking complex. In France, it plans to build its new European research hub, creating 1,000 new hi-tech jobs.
Intel’s site will make the latest 2-nanometer chips, which are comparatively newer than the STM-GlobalFoundries project.
Asian chipmakers such as TSMC and Samsung have also laid out big investment plans but so far have not announced any semiconductor factories in Europe.
Chipmakers have seen huge demand since late 2020 as higher orders from electronics manufacturers boosted by work-from-home practices fuelled a surge in sales of gadgets and led to supply crunches for other industries such as autos and telecom suppliers.
However, Gartner and other research firms have said that PC and smartphone sales will fall later this year, easing the shortage of chips for other industries.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Chipmakers to build semiconductor factory in France
Paris/Stockholm — Chipmakers STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries announced on Monday plans to build a semiconductor factory in France, drawing on funding from the government, the latest move to boost output in the region.
The project represents the lion’s share of the €6.7bn of investment from big global companies that President Emmanuel Macron is due to announce at this year’s Choose France summit in Versailles.
The US and the EU have been pushing for home-grown chip factories by offering billions in state subsidies to cut dependency on Asian suppliers and ease a global chip shortage which has created havoc for car makers.
This facility, which will be next to STM’s existing plant in Crolles, is targeted to reach full capacity by 2026, with up to 620,000 wafers per year of production at a size of 18-nanometers, the statement said. Those are used in automotive, Internet of Things and mobile applications.
The companies did not disclose the amount of investment at the new site near the Italian and Swiss borders or how much funding the French state would provide.
French presidential advisers said they could not disclose the subsidy amount as they hoped there will be money from the European Commission as part of the Chips Act, the budget for which has yet to be negotiated.
In a call with journalists, the companies said the investment would be challenging without participation from the French government.
A person familiar with the matter said that the total investment would be about $5.7bn. Macron’s office said the French president would visit the factory site and it represented an investment of more than €5.7bn. Spokespeople for GlobalFoundries and STMicro declined to comment.
The new factory would create about 1,000 new jobs and also help STMicro reach its target to boost revenue to above $20bn.
“We will have more capacity to support our European and global customers as they transition to digitalisation and decarbonisation,” STMicroelectronics CEO Jean-Marc Chery said.
While STMicro had earlier disclosed plans to double its investments this year to up to $3.6bn, GlobalFoundries has been expanding in the US, Germany and Singapore.
The European Commission earlier this year eased funding rules for innovative semiconductor plants as part of the European Chips Act as the bloc seeks to double its global market share to 20% in 2030.
In March Intel laid out plans for an $88bn investment across Europe and picked Germany as the site for a huge new chipmaking complex. In France, it plans to build its new European research hub, creating 1,000 new hi-tech jobs.
Intel’s site will make the latest 2-nanometer chips, which are comparatively newer than the STM-GlobalFoundries project.
Asian chipmakers such as TSMC and Samsung have also laid out big investment plans but so far have not announced any semiconductor factories in Europe.
Chipmakers have seen huge demand since late 2020 as higher orders from electronics manufacturers boosted by work-from-home practices fuelled a surge in sales of gadgets and led to supply crunches for other industries such as autos and telecom suppliers.
However, Gartner and other research firms have said that PC and smartphone sales will fall later this year, easing the shortage of chips for other industries.
Reuters
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