After years arguing that controlled access to microelectronics technology is vital to Europe’s industrial future, the companies in the Crolles2 Alliance, aimed at giving Europe advanced microelectronics technology, have pulled out.
“I quit the Crolles2 Alliance about one year ago, because I saw this was coming, but it is a sad development for the European semiconductor industry,” Paul Derks, who used to work for NXP at Crolles and is now a product manager at ASML, told
EW.
“The decisions taken by these CEOs have an enormous impact because, once you decide to stop CMOS development, you can never get back in the race again,” said Derks.
Last December, NXP CEO Frans van Houten, was arguing for support for microelectronics R&D. “ENIAC (the European nano-technology project) needs to go forward without delay,” said van Houten.
Less than a month later NXP led the exit from Crolles which,
followed by ST’s exit, means that Crolles’ days as a centre for basic microelectronics process R&D are numbered.
“I’m not surprised. It is obvious ST is going for a fab-lite strategy,” said Malcolm Penn, CEO of analyst Future Horizons. The benefits from pulling out are not necessarily that big.
At semiconductor manufacturer Texas Instruments, company chief financial officer Kevin March, estimated the amount spent by TI on fundamental process R&D is about $140m to $150m a year.
NXP, Freescale and ST were splitting their process R&D investment three ways at Crolles and, reducing their exposure further, was a subsidy from the EU and European national governments.