Report: Better choices needed for growth of Dutch chip industry
The Netherlands must make better choices in order to maintain its top position in the chip industry.
Published on April 3, 2025
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The growth of the Dutch chip industry is under pressure. We are dealing with congestion on the power grid, persistent shortages on the labor market and nitrogen problems. However, the Netherlands can do things to remain a leader. There is a need to focus on a number of specific technology areas, according to the report Invest-NL present today during the TNO Semicon Event in Eindhoven.
The report discusses the state of the semiconductor industry and the progress of Project Beethoven in detail. The Dutch government wants to use this project to retain chip companies, especially ASML. According to the report, if the Netherlands wants to remain a leader in the semiconductor sector, it needs to focus on three areas of technology: heterogeneous integration, metrology & inspection, and new IC architectures with chiplets.
The latter are specialized mini-chips that together form one smart, powerful chip. Chiplets not only offer opportunities to drastically reduce design costs for start-ups, but also make it possible to organize the capital-intensive production of chips more efficiently and scalably. This increases the financeability of new business activity and strengthens the earning capacity of the Netherlands within Europe. Investments from larger European funds, for example, are needed to support the upscaling phase of semi-deep tech start-ups.
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Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Serpil Tascioglu, Rinke Zonneveld and Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi at the TNO event. © TNO
With this focus, the Netherlands should build on the strength of the large companies we have now, such as ASML, NXP, Besi and ASM. In addition, we need to look closely at where the most promising start-ups are currently emerging.
Invest and collaborate
By investing in promising companies and collaborating with public and private parties, Invest-NL helps get deep tech innovations off the ground. In addition to investment, collaboration is essential. Two weeks ago, TNO, Techleap and Invest-NL announced an alliance to stimulate technology development, entrepreneurship and upscaling.
The global dependence on a few players in the semiconductor industry emphasizes the importance of a strong European and Dutch chip industry. The Netherlands has a strong position in this industry with global players such as ASML.
Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi (TNO): “Europe needs the Netherlands to maintain its leadership in the global semiconductor industry. Today's ambitions create a sense of urgency and inspiration for the coalition we recently announced with Invest-NL, Techleap and TNO. By working together, we want to stimulate the future of Dutch high tech - from start-ups to unicorns - and make a lasting impact.”
