Thomas Sondermann, President and CEO of SkyWater, a foundry in the United States, recently published an article on Barrons, pointing out that Asia is winning the Semiconductor production war, and the United States needs to immediately begin to return the chip manufacturing industry.
The article writes that semiconductors support almost all areas of the US economy, including automobiles, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, communications, and consumer electronics. The current chip shortage has exposed loopholes in the US supply chain and forced many companies to reconsider their business strategies.
Sondermann pointed out that although the United States is still a leader in technological innovation, semiconductor production has been declining for decades. Today, the United States only produces 12% of the world’s semiconductors.
Sondermann said that before the end of the semiconductor production war, the US chip manufacturing industry needs to be returned immediately. He believes that the best way is through public-private partnerships. At the same time, the current chip shortage urgently needs to be solved, but it is also necessary to lay the foundation for strengthening semiconductor research and development.
As for how to increase chip production, Sondermann also pointed out that the fastest way is to increase the tools and capacity of existing fabs that are already qualified to produce chips.