US Can Stop ‘Free-Fall’ as Top Chip Producer: Hinrich

Don’t count out the U.S. from again becoming a chipmaking powerhouse, reported the Hinrich Foundation Tuesday. Despite higher costs and lack of “large-scale local manufacturing ecosystems,” semiconductor production looks set to return to the U.S., it said. “This is a testament to the primacy of geopolitics over markets and the role of techno-nationalism in shaping the future.” Reshoring chip manufacturing to the U.S. won’t be easy due to the lack of a domestic manufacturing base and “the dearth of highly skilled labor required for complex chip manufacturing,” it said. But recent developments, including Intel’s $20 billion investment to expand operations in Chandler, Arizona, with two new foundries (see 2103240011), signal the U.S. “can arrest the free-fall of its chip manufacturing ability despite there still being a lot of ground to recover.”