Innovation and Collaboration: Powering Sustainable Exponential Growth
Leaders in the semiconductor industry are finding ways to balance rapid demand growth with strategies to mitigate the risks of geopolitical uncertainty and a complex supply chain.
emsnow.com, Dec. 13, 2024 –
At the CxO Summit during SEMICON Europa, industry leaders gathered to share insights into the immense opportunities ahead for the semiconductor sector, as well as the challenges that could impede growth. Laith Altimime, President of SEMI Europe, highlighted how discussions last year centered on reaching $1 trillion in global sales by 2030. "The conversation today is about how far above $1 trillion we will be in 2030," said Altimime. "Artificial intelligence is an amazing and exciting technology, and the semiconductor industry is at the heart of it."
Ajit Manocha, President and CEO of SEMI, described the current state of the semiconductor industry with one word – "unprecedented". Emphasizing quantum computing as the next growth driver after AI, Manocha urged leaders to prepare for the next landmark – $4 trillion in global sales by 2040. However, the challenges facing the industry are equally unprecedented. Manocha identified four key obstacles: geopolitical volatility, the Net Zero challenge, the competition for top talent, and supply chain disruptions. "We need to work together to solve these challenges – we need unprecedented collaboration," he explained.
A European Perspective on the Industry's Challenges
With the CHIPS Act in the US and the European Union (EU) Chips Act, the industry is also seeing unprecedented governmental engagement. Gustav Kolbe, Acting Director of Enabling and Emerging Technologies at Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission, explained that Europe had been deeply impacted by the effect of trade tensions and supply chain disruptions. "In the field of semiconductors, we realized that we cannot keep doing business as usual and expect to achieve more resilience and reduced dependence on non-European supply chains," Kolbe said.
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