US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Taiwan - I-Hwa Cheng/Bloombergsignificant shortages of electronicsIntel’s Europe chief Frans Scheper said there would be a “huge impact” and a “major crisis” for the industry if Taiwan’s chipmaking exports are cut off by Beijing.
“For certain applications it would have a huge impact. Maybe for others a little bit less, but there are not always alternative sources available.” Mr Scheper's comments come as Intel ramps up production to the US and Europe. The American tech giant is attempting to diversify its chip manufacturing and is planning to invest as much as €80bn in European factories over the next decade.
But investment will take years to pay off and Mr Scheper said: “If there is a short term crisis, there's not much you can do in that sense, so that would have a major impact.”