Semiconductor Industry Association CEO John Neuffer was unfazed by criticism of fully funding the Chips Act to promote long-term leadership and resilience in U.S. chipmaking -- as last week’s White House supply chain report recommended (see our report here). This won't become a handout to wealthy chip companies and will be the incentive the industry seeks to boost U.S. standing in global semiconductors, he said. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) cleared the Senate last week by “a very strong bipartisan vote” with $52 billion in U.S. chipmaking and R&D incentives, he told an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar Wednesday. “Now the battle goes to the House, and we’re very optimistic that something good is going to come out of that, so that the president will have a bill to sign.” The way that Chips Act funding in S-1260 is structured, “sure, there’s going to be grants involved, but there’s going to be far more investments required from private sector players,” said Neuffer. “These are solid companies that have to have a lot of capital to be able to do these kinds of investments.” The most “leading-edge” fabs cost $30 billion to build, he said. No policymaker should “adopt a goal of decoupling” U.S. chip production from global supply chains that are heavily concentrated in East Asia, said Neuffer. He cited a September SIA-Boston Consulting Group report.
Global semiconductor sales reached $41.8 billion in April, increasing 1.9% from March and 21.7% from April 2020, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Wednesday. “Global demand for semiconductors remained high in April, as reflected by rising sales across a range of chip products and throughout each of the world’s major regional markets,” said SIA President John Neuffer. “The global chip market is projected to grow substantially in 2021 and 2022 as semiconductors become increasingly integral to the game-changing technologies of today and the future.” Year-over-year sales increased 25.7% in China, 24.3% in Asia Pacific, 20.1% in Europe, 17.6% in Japan and 14.3% in the Americas, said SIA.
Global semiconductor sales reached $41.8 billion in April, increasing 1.9% from March and 21.7% from April 2020, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Wednesday. “Global demand for semiconductors remained high in April, as reflected by rising sales across a range of chip products and throughout each of the world’s major regional markets,” said SIA President John Neuffer. “The global chip market is projected to grow substantially in 2021 and 2022 as semiconductors become increasingly integral to the game-changing technologies of today and the future.” Year-over-year sales increased 25.7% in China, 24.3% in Asia Pacific, 20.1% in Europe, 17.6% in Japan and 14.3% in the Americas, said SIA.
Revisions to the FCC rules on pro forma assignments and transfers of control should start with a declaratory ruling clarifying existing requirements, and an NPRM on proposals to streamline post-closing procedures to pro forma transactions, the Satellite Industry Association said Tuesday in docket 20-186. "As CTIA and USTelecom have correctly noted, the FCC has ample authority to proceed." SIA said the declaratory ruling would clear up uncertainty about such items as whether non-substantial changes in ownership constitute an assignment or transfer of control that necessitates filings and if pro forma filings are required only if a license is assigned or if a transfer of control affects the licensee's parent.
The Semiconductor Industry Association hired Meghan Biery, previously the senior national security policy adviser at the Bureau of Industry and Security, as director of global technology and security policy, the SIA said in a May 24 news release. “A seasoned policy practitioner with high-level experience in technology security, export control, and related issues, Meghan Biery will be a strong and capable advocate for our industry’s interests in Washington and around the world," SIA CEO John Neuffer said.
The Semiconductor Industry Association hired Meghan Biery, previously the senior national security policy adviser at the Bureau of Industry and Security, as director of global technology and security policy, the SIA said in a May 24 news release. “A seasoned policy practitioner with high-level experience in technology security, export control, and related issues, Meghan Biery will be a strong and capable advocate for our industry’s interests in Washington and around the world," SIA CEO John Neuffer said.
A $50 billion federal “investment program” to “incentivize” chipmaking would add $24.6 billion annually to the U.S. economy and create an average of 185,000 temporary U.S. jobs through 2026, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics Wednesday. The six-year buildout would infuse $147.7 billion yearly cumulatively into the U.S. GDP, they said: The federal investment “can be expected to substantially increase the demand for talent within the semiconductor industry.” As more domestic investments in semiconductor R&D and manufacturing come online and increase production, “the industry will need to hire more workers in a range of occupations,” they said. The “enduring positive impact ... is an additional 280,000 new jobs,” with 42,000 of those in the domestic semiconductor industry. “This would boost U.S. semiconductor industry employment to 319,000 and its total jobs impact to 2.13 million in 2027.”
The Senate likely will vote on the Endless Frontier Act next week and should pass the bill before the end of the moth, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said May 13. The bill, which would provide more federal funding and incentives for semiconductor research, has “strong” bipartisan support, Schumer said, and will help maintain U.S. technological leadership over trade competitors, including China. “The Endless Frontier Act would right the ship by making one of the largest investments in American innovation in generations,” Schumer told the Senate.
SpaceX joined wireless interests in opposing a Satellite Industry Association petition for reconsideration of the FCC Part 25 satellite rules order adopted 5-0 last year (see 2011180043), in docket 18-314 comments posted through Friday. Amazon pushed back on SpaceX's recon petition. SpaceX said the FCC's extending time for deployment of earth stations incentivizes spectrum warehousing. It said axing the earth station re-coordination requirement in upper-microwave flexible use spectrum (UMFUS) as SIA seeks "would simply exacerbate that problem by removing the only meaningful check on speculative applications." Verizon said re-coordination is needed or earth station operators could essentially create a protection zone that precludes UMFUS operations unless the UMFUS facility is operational at coordination time. It said the FCC reversing the re-coordination rule would let earth station operators reserve spectrum in an area for several years, although they could ultimately decide not to build the earth station. CTIA said SIA's proposed clarifications would unnecessarily burden UMFUS licensees. It said if the FCC makes any changes, dump the earth station buildout time frame extension. Backing the SIA recon petition, Hughes said the required re-coordination for earth stations in the UMFUS bands "means that a satellite operator does not really have the rights that its authorization appears to confer." Re-coordination "creates an unacceptable choice" between the potential for significant changes to facilities that could cost millions or accepting secondary status, it said. Amazon's Kuiper urged dismissal of SpaceX's recon petition regarding the earth station buildout extension as procedurally deficient. It said SpaceX argued that letting a non-geostationary operator (NGSO) apply for sites years in advance of construction would lead to stockpiling locations, but the FCC "was correctly agnostic" on approaches systems could take. The FCC reversing itself would stop NGSO operators from designing their entire systems including ground infrastructure, "grossly favoring those who sped ahead" with deployments even if the system design isn't complete, it said. Telesat said as long as the FCC focuses on the number of earth stations involved rather than the orbital characteristics of the associated satellites such as whether they're NGSO or geostationary, it doesn't object to SpaceX's suggested limit on the number of unbuilt earth stations covered by the extended construction periods the FCC adopted.
Semiconductor industry officials are preparing to push for export control modernization over certain electronics on the Commerce Control List, which they say will help controls avoid unintended consequences on U.S. companies and more accurately reflect national security concerns. The effort, led by the Semiconductor Industry Association, will look to convince the Bureau of Industry and Security to update certain control parameters and definitions, and make technical changes in Category 3 of the CCL, which officials view as out of date.