China

In February 2020, the European Commission published its initial proposal – White Paper on Artificial Intelligence: a European approach to excellence and trust – and opened a stakeholder consultation. In June, SEMI Europe, based on member feedback, made key policy recommendations in response.

The current world news is awash with stories about this current economic downturn including speculations about its probable depth and duration. Questions loom regarding what it will take to restart the world economies and how to accomplish this restart effectively.

Global fab equipment spending promises to crawl out of a gloomy 2019 and see a modest recovery this year before a sharp uptick drives record investments in 2021 in a vivid display of the decades-old cyclicality playing out in the semiconductor industry.

Compared to the first half of 2019, the second half smacks of a recovery, with fab equipment spending revised upward to show a stronger 2019 overall in the latest update of the World Fab Forecast report, published by SEMI.

What will the New Year bring? Purchasing Managers Indices (PMIs) are a good leading indicator of present and near-term manufacturing activity by country.

SEMI spoke with Michael Strübin, Director of Digital Health at MedTech Europe, about how healthcare systems are moving towards a sustainable path through improvements in areas such as prevention of illness, patient empowerment, lean systems and low-carbon alternatives.

The global electronics industry normally experiences a seasonal upturn from mid-summer through the December holidays. However, this autumn’s upturn is less robust.

The recent anti-globalization political rhetoric raises a number of challenges for the semiconductor supply chain. Throughout the ongoing US-China trade war, and now the dispute between South Korea and Japan, most attention has focused on the consequences for players at the top of the supply chain.

The photomask market has seen exceptional growth of 13% and 8% in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The upsurge is striking given that, in the early to mid-2000s, the photomask market averaged less than 4 percent annual growth. And the gap between the past two years and the previous ten is remarkable.

SEMI spoke with Andy Collins, manager at Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre (QTEC), ahead of the SEMI Talent Forum (2-3 May, 2019, in Bristol, UK) about the impact of emerging technologies on the future of work in the semiconductor industry.