Europe losing ground in semiconductor research
Research and development in semiconductor technology is increasingly taking place outside Europe, particularly in Asia, according to a new analysis by EconPol Europe.
Between 2000 and 2021, Japan accounted for 35% of all semiconductor patents, followed by the US with 18% and South Korea with 15%. EU countries together represent around 10% of global semiconductor patents.
“At the beginning of the 2000s, the EU was still ahead of Taiwan and China in semiconductor research. However, Asian countries have made significant gains since then, while patent applications in Europe have declined,” says ifo researcher Oliver Falck, in a press release.
Germany, with 5.6% of patents, lags behind Taiwan (9%) and China (7%). In total, 99% of global semiconductor research is concentrated in 20 countries.
Falck notes that while the EU Chips Act aims to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, “very little funding has gone into semiconductor research to date. To avoid falling behind, Europe also needs to expand international collaboration, especially with Asia.”
China and South Korea recorded the highest growth rates over the period. Comparing the earliest three-year period (2001–2003) with the most recent data (2019–2021), South Korea tripled its number of semiconductor patents. China increased its share from 0.8% to 17.6%, a 39-fold increase. Conversely, European countries’ share of patents fell from 13.3% to 8.3% over the same periods.
Despite Asia’s gains, European collaboration with Asian countries remains low when considering patents shared across multiple countries.
The study is based on more than 2.5 million patent applications from the PATSTAT database of the European Patent Office, covering worldwide filings in semiconductor technology, including patents for chips, production processes, and materials.