A lobbying group, featuring the largest chip manufacturers in the US, defended its call to Congress to increase public research and development funding for chip research and STEM education by arguing that “while America leads the world with nearly half of global market share, overseas governments are seeking to displace US leadership through huge government investments in both commercial manufacturing and scientific research”, according to the report issued by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

The main target of the group’s concerns and accusations remains China, which is mentioned multiple times in the release. With phrases such as “the size and scale of [China’s] effort should not be ignored” and “China is producing many more bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields” it warns of China’s impending dominance. Research by E&T found the situation in the sector to be ambivalent. 

“China trails the US in patent applications by a ‘wide margin’. [But] China is catching up” says Larry Cady, senior analyst at IFI CLAIMS, a patent services company. He says that for him, its trajectory appears clear.

In the report, the SIA asked US government leaders on Wednesday to “triple investments in semiconductor-specific research across federal scientific agencies from approximately $1.5 billion to $5 billion annually to advance new materials, designs, and architectures that will exponentially increase chip performance” and “double US research investments in semiconductor-related fields such as materials science, computer science, engineering, and applied mathematics”.

The Washington D.C based lobbying group urged Congress on Wednesday to increase government spending in order to advance new designs and materials to spur chip performance in the US.

This would aid in maintaining America’s position as the global leader in semiconductor technology. “Federal government must establish policies that invest in our innovation base, human talent and ability to compete globally”, states the report.

The call comes after signs, which caused increasing uncertainty, that Chinese advancements and government-led investments in areas such as artificial intelligence and robotics could threaten the country’s competitive position and domestic semiconductor business. Data also point out that less public R&D funding is flowing into defence R&D and funding for non-defence projects is starting to prevail. 

The heightened concern expressed by the SIA originates from firms such as Intel Corp – which spent $13.1m in R&D expenditure in 2017, leading the field of semiconductor R&D spenders in the sector – and others, such as Micron Technology Inc and Nvidia Corp, together with 35 other members of the trade sector group.

There is data showing that China improved on its position on semiconductor research on US soil. In the US, China was increasingly granted technology patents, according to the latest figures provided by IFI Claims for 2018. US patent grants to Chinese companies grew rapidly, confirms Cady. China was awarded 28 per cent more US patents than in 2016 and their granted patents increased ten-fold to the volume in 2007.

Filings in the US within the semiconductor category – running under the headline ‘H01L’ – were flat for US-based firms, but were rapidly growing for Chinese companies, he says.

In 2014, the State Council of China announced the National Guidelines for Development and Promotion of the Integrated Circuit Industry In 2014, China addressed a technology gap between its manufacturers and global leaders via a $21.8bn fund led by government-backed businesses. In 2015, China announced its ‘Made in China 2025’ plan, which aims to grow domestic production of core technological components – including semiconductors – to 40 per cent by 2020 and 70 per cent by 2025.

Since approximately 2010, growth in public funding by the federal budget on R&D by the department of defence, science & technology in the US – which may have benefited the US in its industry arms race with China – did not climb as strongly as between 2000 and 2008, as R&D funding data by AAAS Reports and R&D agency budget data confirm.

SIA also advised the government to finance an increase in US investments in STEM education by 50 per cent while implementing a national STEM education initiative to double the number of American STEM graduates by 2029.

To assure a capable domestic workforce that supports performance in the sector, the groups recommended to reform the nation’s high-skilled immigration system by eliminating counterproductive caps on green cards so that qualified STEM graduates can work to US leadership in the semiconductor industry.

According to NumbersUSA Education and Research Foundation, the number of estimated future permanent legal immigrants of STEM master or PHDs from US universities is capped at 40,000.

While it is often claimed that China is educating more students in STEM fields than the US, the country holds a larger population. E&T’s per capita calculation suggests that the US remains the leader in producing more STEM graduates than China or India. 

The US market-led strategy fundamentally differs from China’s government-led approach.

Figures suggest that Beijing’s support in funding projects could originate from the desire to meet growing domestic demand. According to estimates by Deloitte, the global accounting firm, increasing domestic demand is expected for chips catering for the commercialisation of artificial intelligence – stating that revenue for semiconductors manufactured in China is expected to grow by 25 per cent to $110bn this year.

How much China’s ambition stems from its zeal to compete with the US remains unclear. Compared to the US market, China remains a relatively small player. One of China’s largest chipmakers, Shenzhen Huiding Technology, dwarfs next to major US companies within the sector. How soon and whether at all the US market position is threatened becomes more opaque when China’s recent jumps are excluded or observed in the light that China was starting from a much lower basis.

Chinese companies’ ambition to play a role in global innovation rankings, however, proves the firms’ appetite to keep boosting R&D spend.

According to a report by PwC, Chinese companies’ innovation spending increased nearly three times the overall growth rate among ‘Global Innovation 1000’ – 1,000 of the top global public companies in terms of R&D spending. Whether Chinese companies can maintain this momentum under slowing economic growth and trade tensions remains hazy.

With increasing fears of Chinese property theft in Washington and elsewhere in the US, industrial espionage and China’s growing tech capabilities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s top universities in the world and research cabalist within the area of technology and engineering research, today announced that it has decided to discontinue its relationships with Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE on the basis of results from US federal investigations about the Chinese technology companies’ “alleged violations of sanctions”. 

A lobbying group, featuring the largest chip manufacturers in the US, defended its call to Congress to increase public research and development funding for chip research and STEM education by arguing that “while America leads the world with nearly half of global market share, overseas governments are seeking to displace US leadership through huge government investments in both commercial manufacturing and scientific research”, according to the report issued by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

The main target of the group’s concerns and accusations remains China, which is mentioned multiple times in the release. With phrases such as “the size and scale of [China’s] effort should not be ignored” and “China is producing many more bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields” it warns of China’s impending dominance. Research by E&T found the situation in the sector to be ambivalent. 

“China trails the US in patent applications by a ‘wide margin’. [But] China is catching up” says Larry Cady, senior analyst at IFI CLAIMS, a patent services company. He says that for him, its trajectory appears clear.

In the report, the SIA asked US government leaders on Wednesday to “triple investments in semiconductor-specific research across federal scientific agencies from approximately $1.5 billion to $5 billion annually to advance new materials, designs, and architectures that will exponentially increase chip performance” and “double US research investments in semiconductor-related fields such as materials science, computer science, engineering, and applied mathematics”.

The Washington D.C based lobbying group urged Congress on Wednesday to increase government spending in order to advance new designs and materials to spur chip performance in the US.

This would aid in maintaining America’s position as the global leader in semiconductor technology. “Federal government must establish policies that invest in our innovation base, human talent and ability to compete globally”, states the report.

The call comes after signs, which caused increasing uncertainty, that Chinese advancements and government-led investments in areas such as artificial intelligence and robotics could threaten the country’s competitive position and domestic semiconductor business. Data also point out that less public R&D funding is flowing into defence R&D and funding for non-defence projects is starting to prevail. 

The heightened concern expressed by the SIA originates from firms such as Intel Corp – which spent $13.1m in R&D expenditure in 2017, leading the field of semiconductor R&D spenders in the sector – and others, such as Micron Technology Inc and Nvidia Corp, together with 35 other members of the trade sector group.

There is data showing that China improved on its position on semiconductor research on US soil. In the US, China was increasingly granted technology patents, according to the latest figures provided by IFI Claims for 2018. US patent grants to Chinese companies grew rapidly, confirms Cady. China was awarded 28 per cent more US patents than in 2016 and their granted patents increased ten-fold to the volume in 2007.

Filings in the US within the semiconductor category – running under the headline ‘H01L’ – were flat for US-based firms, but were rapidly growing for Chinese companies, he says.

In 2014, the State Council of China announced the National Guidelines for Development and Promotion of the Integrated Circuit Industry In 2014, China addressed a technology gap between its manufacturers and global leaders via a $21.8bn fund led by government-backed businesses. In 2015, China announced its ‘Made in China 2025’ plan, which aims to grow domestic production of core technological components – including semiconductors – to 40 per cent by 2020 and 70 per cent by 2025.

Since approximately 2010, growth in public funding by the federal budget on R&D by the department of defence, science & technology in the US – which may have benefited the US in its industry arms race with China – did not climb as strongly as between 2000 and 2008, as R&D funding data by AAAS Reports and R&D agency budget data confirm.

SIA also advised the government to finance an increase in US investments in STEM education by 50 per cent while implementing a national STEM education initiative to double the number of American STEM graduates by 2029.

To assure a capable domestic workforce that supports performance in the sector, the groups recommended to reform the nation’s high-skilled immigration system by eliminating counterproductive caps on green cards so that qualified STEM graduates can work to US leadership in the semiconductor industry.

According to NumbersUSA Education and Research Foundation, the number of estimated future permanent legal immigrants of STEM master or PHDs from US universities is capped at 40,000.

While it is often claimed that China is educating more students in STEM fields than the US, the country holds a larger population. E&T’s per capita calculation suggests that the US remains the leader in producing more STEM graduates than China or India. 

The US market-led strategy fundamentally differs from China’s government-led approach.

Figures suggest that Beijing’s support in funding projects could originate from the desire to meet growing domestic demand. According to estimates by Deloitte, the global accounting firm, increasing domestic demand is expected for chips catering for the commercialisation of artificial intelligence – stating that revenue for semiconductors manufactured in China is expected to grow by 25 per cent to $110bn this year.

How much China’s ambition stems from its zeal to compete with the US remains unclear. Compared to the US market, China remains a relatively small player. One of China’s largest chipmakers, Shenzhen Huiding Technology, dwarfs next to major US companies within the sector. How soon and whether at all the US market position is threatened becomes more opaque when China’s recent jumps are excluded or observed in the light that China was starting from a much lower basis.

Chinese companies’ ambition to play a role in global innovation rankings, however, proves the firms’ appetite to keep boosting R&D spend.

According to a report by PwC, Chinese companies’ innovation spending increased nearly three times the overall growth rate among ‘Global Innovation 1000’ – 1,000 of the top global public companies in terms of R&D spending. Whether Chinese companies can maintain this momentum under slowing economic growth and trade tensions remains hazy.

With increasing fears of Chinese property theft in Washington and elsewhere in the US, industrial espionage and China’s growing tech capabilities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s top universities in the world and research cabalist within the area of technology and engineering research, today announced that it has decided to discontinue its relationships with Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE on the basis of results from US federal investigations about the Chinese technology companies’ “alleged violations of sanctions”.