"Airbus for chips"

[Twinrocket]

http://computersweden.idg.se/2.2683/1.483901/eu-vill-bygga-processor

The EU wants to build processor
By Joel Åsblom

Neelie Kroes, responsible for the European Commission's digital agenda,
wants to see a major investment in processors in a project similar to the
Airbus Program - the European consortium building aircraft.

American processor vendors like Intel, AMD and IBM should expect
competition from European manufacturers in the future. That is what
European Commissioner Neelie Kroes advocate during a speech held last
week: "Airbus for chips."

- The road to success is a seamless collaboration modeled on Air Airbus
project. A digital Airbus and Airbus for the chip would be interesting, says
Kroes, Commissioner for the EU's digital agenda.

Airbus Industries began as a consortium of three western European
aircraft manufacturers to compete against successful American
companies such as Boeing, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas.

- The digital collaboration need not have the same structure as the Airbus
but the point is that you must have an overall coordination in order to
achieve successful results in processor manufacturing.

The current situation is that there are no strong European player in the
processing industry. In recent times, the industry has even weakened.
European Semiconductor Industry Association, ESIA, says that European
manufacturers have reduced their sales by 14 percent in the past year.

Among European manufacturers, only ST Microelectronics is on Top Ten
List of the largest processor manufacturers according to research firm IC
Insight.

[CPUShack]

ST, which use to be a govt consortium lol

SGS,Ates,Thomson, Ferranti, there is nothing new under the sun

[Twinrocket]

I suppose most people see Airbus as a European success story today.
However I have no idea what percentage of US parts there is in a given
Airbus model but I would suspect it is quite a lot. I was told that the
Swedish JAS Gripen is ca 50% "American" In any case I have also been
told that Airbus (teaming with Northrop Grumman) had the best Tanker
offer and even when they planned to start an unnecessary assembly line
in Mobile Alabama they still lost despite even after being selected the
winner. Politics plays an important part so don't believe that it is always
the best offer and solution that wins. How this will translate into the
future of the CPU/IC industry I guess we will have to wait and see.