Germany lines up €14bn for chips
Germany is planning to allocate €14 billion (US$15bn) to support chipmakers, according to Reuters.
Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck says there would more examples like Intel setting up chip fabs in Magdeburg to come. The country is supporting those two fabs with €5bn because the global and long-running chip supply shortage, affecting everything from smartphones to automobiles, has become a massive problem for the German economy, says Habeck.
It is not clear whether the €14 billion is additional to money already promised to Intel. Even if it is additional, Intel would likely wish to tap into this money as well. Previously Intel had indicated it is looking for a €10 billion support package.
Meanwhile the European Commission has been laying out plans to encourage chip manufacturing in Europe as a part of a strategic plan to raise Europe’s share of the global chip market.
Habeck said there would be other examples like Magdeburg, without going into details.
It is expected that Globalfoundries and Bosch – already present in Dresden, Germany – will be supported in expanding their operations. However, these companies do not operate at the leading-edge in terms of miniaturization. The European Commission is believed to have courted the world’s two leading foundries Samsung and TSMC for inward investment without success so far.
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