Semiconductor exports 2018

Unfortunately, the EU’s competitive position and market share has been shrinking, particularly when compared to east Asia. In parallel, the innovation gap between the EU and the market leaders has widened, and the emphasis on microelectronics within the EU has declined. This is evident when looking, for example, at recent global shares in semiconductor exports (see Figure 1). Semiconductors are the technological basis for all microelectronics; in the words of a group of high-level research and technology experts who drafted a report on boosting electronics value chains in 2018, ‘semiconductors are levers for innovation, productivity and economic growth in Europe’.