SEMICONDUCTORS — THE CHIPS THAT ENABLE VIRTUALLY ALL MODERN TECHNOLOGIES — are one of the most transformative inventions in all of human history. Thanks to groundbreaking advancements in semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing over the last 65 years, modern chips can have up to tens of billions of transistors on a small slice of silicon.
The rapid pace of semiconductor innovation has made the world smarter, healthier, greener, and better connected. And chips are powering the transformative technologies of tomorrow, including artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and electric vehicles, and advanced wireless networks.
The report projects the United States will triple its domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity from 2022—when the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS) was enacted—to 2032. The projected 203% growth is the largest projected percent increase in the world over that time.
The study also projects the U.S. will grow its share of advanced logic (below 10nm) manufacturing to 28% of global capacity by 2032, up from 0% in 2022. Additionally, America is projected to capture over one-quarter (28%) of total global capital expenditures (capex) from 2024-2032, ranking second only to Taiwan (31%). In the absence of the CHIPS Act, the U.S. would have captured only 9% of global capex by 2032, according to the report.
A growing, globally competitive U.S. semiconductor industry requires a skilled workforce, including highly educated engineers and scientists, well-trained technicians, and others.
To ensure the success of the CHIPS Act and drive semiconductor innovation – along with the national security and economic benefits derived from U.S. semiconductor leadership – America needs to adopt policies to educate and attract the top engineering and scientific talent in the world and train a skilled workforce for the semiconductor industry and other strategic technology sectors.
SIA released a study finding the United States faces a significant shortage of technicians, computer scientists, and engineers, with a projected shortfall of 67,000 of these workers in the semiconductor industry by 2030 and a gap of 1.4 million such workers throughout the broader U.S. economy. The report, titled “Chipping Away: Assessing and Addressing the Labor Market Gap Facing the U.S. Semiconductor Industry,” also makes a set of policy recommendations to help close the talent gap and complement the workforce development initiatives that are already being carried out by semiconductor companies across the U.S.
The report finds that a federal investment in semiconductor design and R&D of approximately $20 billion to $30 billion through 2030—including $15 billion to $20 billion for an investment tax credit for semiconductor design—will help maintain long-term U.S. chip design leadership.
The cornerstone of the CHIPS R&D program is the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), a more than $5 billion initiative tasked to “conduct research and prototyping of advanced semiconductor technology and grow the domestic semiconductor workforce to strengthen the economic competitiveness and security of the domestic supply chain.” This report contains a set of recommendations to promote the success of the NSTC and synthesizes the most up-to-date industry consensus and priorities.
As global chips demand increases, and the industry responds to geopolitical uncertainty and other disruptions, semiconductor companies are diversifying their global investment footprint to improve supply chain resilience. In turn, governments around the world are seeking to improve their countries’ business and investment climate to attract and facilitate new semiconductor projects.
In our new SIA-BCG report, Attracting Chips Investment: Industry Recommendations for Policymakers, we recommend policy actions governments can undertake to better attract and facilitate chips investments that complement industry operations in the United States, and in turn drive greater security, resilience, and diversification in global semiconductor supply chains.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT) in supporting essential activities in a crisis, and the role of an ever-widening range of digitized services, from commerce to education to healthcare, in building a resilient society.
SIA is the voice of the semiconductor industry, one of America’s top export industries and a key driver of our economic strength, national security, and global competitiveness.
