Europe's semiconductor industry must invest in more automated and larger 300-millimeter wafer fabs to counter growing competition from ?Chinese rivals in power and analog chips, an Infineon ?Technologies (IFXGn.DE), opens new tab executive said last Friday.

Speaking at a conference for semiconductor industry executives in Poland, Thomas Altenmueller, Vice President Manufacturing Analytics at Infineon, said that ?Chinese manufacturers were rapidly gaining capacity and expertise in areas ?historically dominated by European chipmakers.

"They are learning fast. They ?have the capacity," Altenmueller said. "It is super serious." Altenmueller said the shift toward ?power and analog chips by Chinese companies was pushed by export restrictions on more advanced ?semiconductor tools like ASML's EUV lithography machines.

EUROPE MUST SCALE UP AND CONSOLIDATE OPERATIONS

At ?the same conference, executives from STMicroelectronics (STMPA.PA), opens new tab laid out plans for automating older fabs ?that ?cannot be fully modernised, deploying robots to increase efficiency.

While Europe's semiconductor firms lack market share in AI accelerators, which are dominated by Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, Samsung (005930.KS), opens new tab and TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab, Altenmueller said energy-efficient power delivery chips, crucial ?for managing the ?rising energy demands ?of data centers, had vast growth potential.

The European Union's first Chips Act aimed to increase the bloc's share ?of global chip production from 10% to 20% ?by 2030. ?It primarily focused on new projects and "first-of-a-kind". Altenmueller said Europe's existing profitable plants should not be overlooked, as they remain essential to its global competitiveness.

The ?EU ?is now working on a refreshed Chips Act 2.0.

"Europe's ?competitiveness ultimately resides in its traditional industrial strengths in automotive and industrial chips," Altenmueller ?said. "Don't forget our strengths."

By: DocMemory
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