Germany promises €400 million boost for microelectronics
Federal Research Minister Johanna Wanka said that by the end of 2015 the ministry will have developed a program for the promotion of microelectronics with a budget of €400 million (about $435 million) to last up until 2020. The announcement was made to coincide with the visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to wafer fabs belonging to Globalfoundries and Infineon in Dresden on Tuesday July 14.
Globalfoundries, Infineon and the Fraunhofer Institute IPMS are already receiving support for research projects from the Federal Ministry of Research. Globalfoundries is working with federal support for new chip technologies. Infineon has set up numerous pilot projects related to real-world use of power electronics.
Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss explains to German Chancellor Angela Merkel the structure of a power chip on a 300mm thinned wafer. From left to right: Reinhard Ploss (CEO Infineon Technologies AG), Stanislaw Tillich (Prime Minister of Saxony), Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany), Johanna Wanka (Federal Minister of Education and Research), Infineon employee.
"Microelectronics is an essential prerequisite, especially for the integration of production and the Internet," said Minister Wanka in a translated statement. "Whoever wants to promote Industry 4.0 needs strong chips," she added.
Next: Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is label applied in Europe and particularly in Germany for the application of the Internet of Things to industrial production.
About 50 percent of European chip production comes from Saxony where about 25,000 people are employed in microelectronics and produce an output worth about €6 billion (about $6.5 billion) per year, the ministry said. However, it is notable that Europe’s production of IC manufacturing on 300mm-diameter wafers has fallen below 1 percent of the world total.
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Europe’s 300mm IC manufacturing falls below 1% of world output
Interview: Sir Peter Bonfield on how Europe can compete
European Commission repeats call for "Airbus of chips"
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