THE GLOBAL RISE OF MARKET SHARE DUE TO SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY!

The country that leads in semiconductor innovation will also show the next wave of technology advances, influencing every aspect of the economy and life.
Semiconductors are a key enabling technology that shapes our nation’s economy, job creation, technology leadership, and national security. To maintain America’s position as the global leader in semiconductor technology, the federal government must establish policies that invest in our innovation base, human talent, and ability to compete globally.
All phases of the semiconductor value chain — research, design, manufacturing, assembly, and packaging — occur in a globally integrated network. The semiconductor industry in the U.S. has leveraged this global network to maintain its competitiveness, and it is a crucial aspect of the industry’s success.

First, semiconductor technology advancements push against physics barriers, and breakthroughs to move beyond these limits and keep America in front require more significant investment in research. Second, while the U.S. semiconductor industry leads the world with nearly half of the global market share, overseas governments such as China seek to challenge U.S. leadership by making significant investments to achieve breakthroughs in semiconductor technology, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.
“Many of society’s big challenges can be solved by tiny semiconductors, the brains of our digital world.”

Today, the global semiconductor ecosystem is under threat from government policies that seek to localize supply chains and build state-backed national champions to compete abroad. These policies employ massive state subsidies, top-down approaches, centrally planned industrial systems, and other non-market efforts, including forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft. They also have the potential to disrupt markets and harm innovation. While China stands out today, there are fears this “supply-chain localization” trend will spread to other nations.

America’s global leadership of the semiconductor industry can be maintained only by promoting access to international markets and ensuring fair competition. Besides, all countries have an interest in keeping this global value chain. The U.S. government should work with like-minded nations to promote effective trade policies to sustain our industry’s critical aspect. Open markets and fair trade require strong intellectual property protection and enforcement. Intellectual property is the semiconductor industry’s lifeblood, and enforcing intellectual property rights is essential to its global competitiveness. The industry’s high level of investment in research and development results in invaluable intellectual property (patents, trade secrets, source code, etc.). The protection of this intellectual property is critical to the industry’s competitive position in the world.

Moore’s Law’s decades-long success was driven by research investments in materials and chemicals sciences, computer science and applied math, electrical engineering, and fabrication technologies. Continued semiconductor innovation will require research in new materials, designs, and architectures through a whole-of-government approach and public/private partnerships to apply the best analysis from academia, industry, and government research centers.

Double U.S. research investments in semiconductor-related fields such as materials science, computer science, and applied mathematics across federal scientific agencies to spur leap-ahead innovations in semiconductor technology that will drive critical technologies of the future, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced wireless networks. Semiconductor advances also benefit from programs addressing broader scientific inquiry fields that span the range of the U.S. scientific enterprise.

Research programs in materials science, computer science, applied mathematics, photonics, and chemistry are essential to future semiconductor technology innovations. Funding for these programs should be doubled over the next five years. Increased research funding alone, however, will not meet the challenges without increased engagement with the industry. The federal government plays an essential convening role. It must drive public-private research partnerships that increase the general scientific research knowledge base and connect that knowledge to real-world applications. Doing so is necessary to ensure scientific breakthroughs benefit society and sustain American leadership in semiconductor technology that is key to national security and industrial competitiveness.
“Many of society’s big challenges can be solved by tiny semiconductors, the brains of our digital world.”