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Tech firms form Semiconductors in America Coalition, call for $50 billion to address shortage

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, and several more are among those attempting to address the semiconductor famine's affects in the US.

TJ Denzer

May 12, 2021 10:50 AM

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As we’ve come into another fiscal quarter and nearly halfway through 2021, a common issue among various financial reporting as of late is the damage the global semiconductor shortage stands to do to various sectors of tech manufacturing and production. It is such an issue that President Joseph Biden has also worked towards initiatives to address the matter in the opening moves of his administration. Now, a group of tech giants has banded together to form a special coalition on the semiconductor shortage in the United States.

The Semiconductors in America Coalition (SIAC) was officially announced via a press release on May 11, 2021. The coalition consists of various major players in the U.S. tech industry, including Amazon Web Services, Apple, AT&T, Cisco Systems, General Electric, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Microsoft, and Verizon. The coalition has asked for the US Congress for $50 billion in funds to aid the participating firms in developing solutions for the ongoing and ever-deepening semiconductor famine which has affected technology production and distribution worldwide through a number of sectors including computers, automotive, and gaming industries.

The formation of the SIAC follows on the back of President Biden’s executive order to investigate the issue earlier this year. Biden has also signaled support for funding to aid in solutions and alleviation of the ongoing issue with the CHIPS for America Act, a bill aiming at boosting the country's semiconductor production. A number of the companies above have included forecasts in their recently posted quarterly and yearly financial reports warning that the semiconductor shortage stands to severely limit business even throughout the end of 2021. Groups like Nintendo and Sony have echoed those concerns as well, claiming the issue could roll over well into 2022.

With all of this in mind and so much money and business on the line in the immediate future, it will be interesting to see what the Congressional response to the Semiconductors in America Coalition will be, as well as the solutions or fixes that come after. Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story for further updates and info.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.