Wednesday, December 30th 2020
EU Signs Declaration for 2 nm Node and Custom Processor Development
European Union has today processed a declaration that was signed by 17 member states about the development of a 2 nm semiconductor node and an advanced low-power processor. The declaration signed today proposes that the EU puts away 145 billion Euros for the development of the technologies needed to manufacture a 2 nm semiconductor manufacturing process, along with the development of a custom, low-power embedded processor designed for industrial applications. The 17 member countries include Belgium, France, Germany, Croatia, Estonia, Italy, Greece, Malta, Spain, The Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Finland, and Cyprus. All of the countries listed are going to join the development of these technologies and will have the funds to do it over the next 2-3 years.
Source:
EETimes Europe
EU DeclarationTo ensure Europe's technology sovereignty and competitiveness, as well as our capacity to address key environmental and societal challenges and new emerging mass markets, we need to strengthen Europe's capacity to develop the next generation of processors and semiconductors. This includes chips and embedded systems that offer the best performance for specific applications across a wide range of sectors as well as leading-edge manufacturing progressively advancing towards 2 nm nodes for processor technology. Using connectivity, where Europe enjoys global lead, as a major use case driver for developing such capacity enables Europe to set the right level of ambition. This will require a collective effort to pool investment and to coordinate actions, by both public and private stakeholders.
29 Comments on EU Signs Declaration for 2 nm Node and Custom Processor Development
Within the EU, just selecting the site for a fab would take longer than it will take TSMC to flesh out 2nm. Or, as some Nokia (of the old days) exec once put it: in the time it takes us to prepare the slideshow depicting a new phone, the Chinese build that phone.
I have nothing against the initiative, but I won't get excited until there's something more palpable to be excited about.
Look at SMIC in China. They got ~10 Billion USD government investment in past few years and they marched from 28nm to their 7nm (Slightly denser than TSMC's 10nm). And that is achieved under the hostilities from the US.
If EU can actually put aside 145 Billion Euros in time, they may very well achieve their target, at least partly. In the end, they own the EUV lithography technology, something SMIC never had a chance to access.