Semiconductors

Applied Economics in US Manufacturing: Semiconductors

Recently, semiconductor manufacturing has come into the national spotlight. Below are figures on the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing industry NIST AMS 100-49.

U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing in Brief

Some brief figures on U.S. semiconductor manufacturing include the following:

• U.S. semiconductor manufacturing value added was $30.4 billion in 2020
• It was 10.6 % larger in 2020 than it was in 2008
• Industry value added has had a 5-year compound annual growth rate of 4.2 %
• The U.S. has 12 % of the global production capacity down from 37 % in 1990 (See Table A 1)

Table A 1 from NIST AMS 100-49: U.S. Share and Growth of Production Capacity

U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing Sophistication

Smaller process technology equates to higher technological sophistication. Below are characteristics of U.S. production.

• The U.S. has 43 % of the 10 nm to 22 nm process technology market
• The U.S. has little to no capacity for the most advanced technology, which is at the 10 nm or less process technology

Table A 2 from NIST AMS 100-49: 2019 National Share of Global Process Technology and Value of Subsidies, 2019

U.S. Activities occurring Globally in Semiconductor Manufacturing

U.S. companies engage in activities domestically and abroad. Some characteristics are provided below.

• U.S. owned firms, which own facilities around the world, have a commanding position in terms of the design of semiconductors
• U.S. firms held significant proportions of national markets, including 49.9 % of the Chinese market

​​​​​​​Table A 3 From NIST AMS 100-49: U.S. Company Semiconductor Value Added Occurring Globally, 2019

Table A 4 from NIST AMS 100-49: U.S. Firms Share of National Semiconductor Markets

For more information, please see NIST AMS 100-49.