Why Europe has fallen behind other countries in the semiconductor industry
Asianometry, a YouTube channel that mainly posts economic and historical videos related to Asia, explains why Europe has lost out to other countries in the production of 'semiconductors' that are indispensable for electronic devices such as computers. did.
As of 2019, it is rare for a European company to be responsible for the design, manufacture, and assembly of semiconductors in the global market. Thing.
Going back to the 20th century, in the development of 'transistors' made of semiconductors, Europe also entered following the United States, and France in particular was said to be a pioneer in the same field. However, as Japan and other countries soon entered the market, the semiconductor industry in Europe fell behind, and the technology gap widened over the next several decades.
In 1947, Bell Laboratories in the United States developed the world's first transistor, but half a year later two German scientists, Herbert Matale and Heinrich Welker, who were staying in Paris, developed an amplification effect. We have succeeded in developing a transistor with This was the earliest transistor that would later be called
They showed their invention to Eugene Thomas of the French telegraph office and asked him to patent it. In response to this, Thomas held a press conference announcing the invention of the transistor in May 1949, citing the superiority of the transistor over the vacuum tubes that were dominant at the time and demonstrating how to use it. This business was highly acclaimed in France, and in 1951 and 1952 it was successfully patented in the United States and France, respectively.
However, the French government decided to focus on the development of nuclear power, and the telecommunications business was entrusted to a private company. Funds from the government will be sent to nuclear power instead of telecommunications, and the development of transistors in the telecommunications industry will be stagnant.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Bell Labs held a public symposium to clarify the details of transistors, and made knowledge about production and funding freely available to everyone. It is said that these differences in environment led to the recruitment of researchers from European countries by American laboratories.
Furthermore, France suffered a series of defeats in the Algerian War in 1957-1958, and austerity measures were implemented by Antoine Pinet, who was the Minister of Finance at the time. The transistor industry, which was 90% dependent on the government, lost a lot of its initial lead due to this policy.
While Europe is stagnant, Japan will also lead greatly in the semiconductor industry. Japan advanced the development of transistor radios and color televisions, and the number of semiconductors manufactured rapidly increased from 1950 to 1960. Information on semiconductors was consolidated through corporate acquisitions, etc., and succeeded in growing significantly.
In order to improve this situation, French President Francois Mitterrand announced a five-year plan in 1982 to develop the microelectronics field. We invest heavily in semiconductor research and development. The goal was to get SMEs to regain the domestic semiconductor market share that was being dominated by foreign industries. In West Germany, in 1984 the government started an extensive semiconductor research and development programme.
However, European countries suffered from bankruptcy and other troubles, and some even accepted mergers from American companies. The European semiconductor industry gradually declined, giving way to Asian companies such as South Korea that entered the market at the same time.
In 2021, the European Union announced plans to build 'strategic autonomy'. It is looking to double its share of Europe in semiconductors by increasing its production share of high-end chips. asianometry concluded, 'As history has proven, Europe is willing to financially support the semiconductor industry. Will the European Union's strategy be a win or a loss?' Ta.
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