Monday, May 22nd 2023
UK Government Criticized for Insufficient Support of Semiconductor Industry
The United Kingdom's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has recently announced a semiconductor-related partnership with with Japan (at the G7 Hiroshima Summit), as well as a $1 billion ($1.25 billion) support package for microchip industries within the UK - with the intended goal of turning the nation into a "technology superpower." The 10-year investment strategy was initially expected to kick of last Autumn, but the announcement was delayed, for various reasons, to last weekend's intergovernmental political forum held in Japan. Sunak hopes that the new strategy "will grow our economy, create new jobs and (make the UK) stay at the forefront of new technological breakthroughs."
The United Kingdom's microchip industry has been described as a "fledgling" operation when compared to its neighbors' undertakings, and industry figures think that the government's pledge of £1 billion in support is "insignificant" in the grand scheme of things. They cite the USA's CHIPS Act ($52 billion) and an equivalent scheme devised by the European Union (€43 billion of aid) as glowing examples of proper expenditure and reinforcement of their respective semiconductor industries. One technology critic thinks that the UK's support package is good enough for improving research and development departments, but it will in no way pave the way for local companies to reach the same level as big international players such as NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Broadcom and AMD. Cambridge, UK-based firm Arm opted to file for an IPO in the United States earlier this month, and ignored London's stock exchange entirely - the semiconductor and software design company is wholly owned by Japan's Softbank - prior to a change in ownership, Arm was viewed as Britain's leading light in the technology biz.
Source:
BBC News
The United Kingdom's microchip industry has been described as a "fledgling" operation when compared to its neighbors' undertakings, and industry figures think that the government's pledge of £1 billion in support is "insignificant" in the grand scheme of things. They cite the USA's CHIPS Act ($52 billion) and an equivalent scheme devised by the European Union (€43 billion of aid) as glowing examples of proper expenditure and reinforcement of their respective semiconductor industries. One technology critic thinks that the UK's support package is good enough for improving research and development departments, but it will in no way pave the way for local companies to reach the same level as big international players such as NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Broadcom and AMD. Cambridge, UK-based firm Arm opted to file for an IPO in the United States earlier this month, and ignored London's stock exchange entirely - the semiconductor and software design company is wholly owned by Japan's Softbank - prior to a change in ownership, Arm was viewed as Britain's leading light in the technology biz.
17 Comments on UK Government Criticized for Insufficient Support of Semiconductor Industry
The UK gov't probably spent that much and took that long to choose which AI Bot to use to write this poorly written PR.... not to mention dreaming about if they could ever become a "tech superpower" hahahaha, yea right :D
This PR is clearly meant as a self-applied pat on the back for Rishi boy, seeins how he waited for the G7 meeting to get it released, and besides that, the way things are over there, the UK gov't will be lucky if it still exists in 10 years....
Soon , Australia, Canada, and New Zealand will start asking for heir own semiconductor industry lol. They are better off spending the 1B on Nvidia GPUs to play Diablo IV.
Taiwan can do it better, or we're worried about it being flattened essentially?
The only one that stands a chance is China as they seem keen on paying the price unlike others, and don't have stupid shortsighted stakeholders.
No idea why anyone thinks the EU is some kind of example to look to. The US, SK, Taiwan, Japan and China if you don't mind "slave" labor in the latter. That's more like it.
Taiwan has a comparative advantage in semis. There is an argument China might flatten it essentially.
Doing a deal with China using peaceful means is the solution.
Now we've got people arguing over how much fabs should be subsidised to get a piece.
Not that the chips act has worked. Intel is on the floor technically and commercially.
And I agree with the fact in chip production we are way behind and can't catch up.
Arm and many more were started, built up and run successfully in the UK, could we do more yes, if we hadn't bothered though the world would look very different.
And your phone would be shit.
As for UK gov, sigh was it ever better?!?
Industry & the public need not apply.
And no i'm not saying the EU is perfect, but no one is really. But it's the least dystopian of the big blocs. You get spying from NSA, rampant crime in NY or SF, no healthcare etc... in the US. China is China. Asia go live in a box in Tokyo or Seul and work countless hours. The EU is the best place to be a normal person even with all it's faults.