> I think Europe should invest into manufacturing RAM ... This would be an opportunity to create domestic supply of it

How?

Most foundries across Asia and the US are being given subsidizes that outstrip those that the EU is providing, with the only mega-foundry project in Europe was canceled by Intel last year [0].

Additionally, much of the backend work like OSAT and packaging is done in ASEAN (especially Malaysia), Taiwan, China, and India. As much of the work for memory chips is largely backend work (OSAT and packaging), this is a field the EU simply cannot compete in given that it has FTAs with the US, Japan, South Korea, India, and Vietnam so any EU attempt would be crushed well before imitating the process.

Furthermore, much of the IP in the memory space is owned by Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, and American champions who are largely investing either domestically or in Asia, as was seen with MUFG's announcement earlier today to create a dedicated end-to-end semiconductor fund specifically to unify Japan, Taiwan, and India into a single fab-to-fabless ecosystem [1]. SoftBank announced something similar to unify the US, Japan, Malaysia, and India into a similar end-to-end ecosystem as well a couple weeks ago [2]. Meanwhile, South Korea is trying to further shore up their domestic capacity [3] via subsidies and industrial policy.

When Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese technology and capital partners are uninterested in investing in building European capacity, American technology and capital partners have pulled out of similar initiatives in Europe, and the EU working to ban Chinese players [4] what can the EU even do?

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Edit: can't reply

> Why are you overlooking European semiconductor champions

Because they don't have the IP for the flash memory supply chain. And whatever capacity and IP they have in chip design, front-end fab, or back-end fab is domiciled in the US, ASEAN, and India.

> STMicroelectronics

Power electronics and legacy nodes (28nm and above) for IoT and embedded applications.

> Infineon

Power electronics and legacy nodes (28nm and above) for automotive applications.

> NXP

Power electronics and legacy nodes (28nm and above) for embedded applications.

> All of them are skilled enough to build and operate a DRAM fab in Europe. A bunch of EU dev banks can lend the monies to get it built.

They don't have the IP. Much of the IP for the memory space is owned by Japanese, American, Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese companies.

Additionally, most Asian funds own both the IP and capital (often with government backing), making European attempts futile.

Essentially, the EU would have to start from scratch and decades behind countries with whom the EU already has FTAs with that have expanded capacity well before the EU and thus would be able to crush any incipient European competitor.

[0] - https://www.it-daily.net/shortnews-en/intel-officially-cance...

[1] - https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20260224VL219/taiwan-talent-...

[2] - https://asia.nikkei.com/economy/trade-war/trump-tariffs/soft...

[3] - https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20251230PD220/semiconductor-...

[4] - https://www.ft.com/content/eb677cb3-f86c-42de-b819-277bcb042...

Why are you overlooking European semiconductor champions? STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies, and NXP Semiconductors. All of them are skilled enough to build and operate a DRAM fab in Europe. A bunch of EU dev banks can lend the monies to get it built.