This type of government/corporate collaboration is similar to how other traditional industries like autos, oil & gas, steel, etc., usually operate. That's because the capital cost of building factories and supply chains exceed the private sector's ability to tolerate the risk of such investments. And a big reason why the risk is so high is because the business is both unpredictable and low margin.
This has never been an issue in the semiconductor industry until now. Demand was always increasing and margins have been high enough to allow them to self-fund. If semiconductor companies now need subsidies to expand then we are probably past the "exponential growth" era of semiconductors. Technological gains will be much slower and much more consistent with traditional industries rather one that what we're use to.
This has never been an issue in the semiconductor industry until now. Demand was always increasing and margins have been high enough to allow them to self-fund. If semiconductor companies now need subsidies to expand then we are probably past the "exponential growth" era of semiconductors. Technological gains will be much slower and much more consistent with traditional industries rather one that what we're use to.