SEMI warns of looming R&D gap
EE Times
(10/18/2005 4:21 PM EDT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A funding shortfall for semiconductor manufacturing R&D could reach $9 billion by 2010 if current technology and economic trends continue, an industry group warned.
In a white paper released Tuesday (Oct. 18), Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), the chip manufacturing group based here, estimated that the equipment and materials industries will be able to afford a projected annual R&D budget of $10.4 billion by 2010. However, it said estimated R&D funding needed for the continued scaling of CMOS technology will be an estimated $16.2 billion.
Moreover, annual R&D funding for the next generation of wafer substrates could rise to $19.7 billion in the same time frame, accounting for the projected funding gap.
"The semiconductor industry is at a crossroad," Stanley Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, said in a statement. "The development of the IC has contributed to remarkable improvements in the electronics sector, resulting in enormous economic and social benefits. However, without significant attention to the R&D gap, the semiconductor equipment and materials industry will not be able to afford to keep up with Moore's Law."
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