The chairman of IBM calls them ``the crude oil of the electronics age.``
The Japanese say they`re the ``rice of the information age.`` Both recognize the critical importance of semiconductors, the tiny computer chips that are the heart of electronic products ranging from pocket calculators to supercomputers.
More than a decade ago, the Japanese decided not only to grow bumper crops of computer chips for export but also to overtake the United States as the leading producer of equipment that prints the microscopic circuits onto silicon wafers. IBM and other U.S. computer makers immediately saw the risk. If Japan dominates chipmaking and chipmaking equipment, U.S. firms will be at the mercy of Japanese suppliers who will put the interests of Japan`s electronics firms ahead of foreign competitors.
To head this off, IBM announced that Schaumburg-based Motorola will help it develop a new technology that uses X-rays instead of photographic techniques to etch circuits on the chip. This will allow chips to be packed with more circuits and more memory.
Japanese firms have long joined forces to apply new technology to commercial markets. Not surprisingly, they are also working feverishly to develop the new X-ray technology, and, according to IBM, they are outspending U.S. firms. That`s one reason IBM asked Motorola and others to join its effort. The other is the high levels of investment required in this increasingly complex field. IBM will sink $500 million into a new chip laboratory in upstate New York; a semiconductor plant today costs $500 million compared with $40 million in the mid-1970s.
IBM, which not long ago jealously guarded its research, believes the industry and the nation can compete effectiely only if more companies share technical expertise and pool resources. Not everyone agrees. Some companies rejected IBM`s offer to participate, perhaps because the project may not produce results for five or six years or because some executives aren`t ready to give up their entrepreneurial work for such industry alliances.
Cooperative research efforts have grown in number since Congress liberalized antitrust laws in 1984. Those laws need to be revised again to allow joint manufacturing and sales operations as well. Critics wrongly view this as a step toward national industrial planning. But if America is to reinvigorate its industries, regain an innovative edge and remain competitive in world markets, more companies like IBM and Motorola need to work together.