Visualizing The Global Semiconductor Supply Chain

Our digitally-driven society is powered by an extremely robust semiconductor supply chain, and until the COVID-19 pandemic, not many people thought about it.

But a sudden surge in demand for digital goods, improved technologies, and recovering economies put the strain and spotlight directly on semiconductors.

The millions of digital devices we use, from smartphones to electric cars, computers, robotics, and the businesses they enable, only function thanks to the intricate chips built on semiconductors. By some estimates, up to 22.5% of global GDP is made up by the global digital economy.

This graphic from ASE Global highlights the complex and global semiconductor supply chain that powers our modern world.

How Important are Semiconductors and Chips?

Fully understanding the importance of semiconductors to the modern world is sometimes tricky, especially when the devices themselves are so small.

But a semiconductor device—also known as an integrated circuit (IC) or chip—actually contains many smaller circuits comprised of millions of transistors, all packed onto a few millimeters of silicon (the semiconductor).

These semiconductor devices allow electronics to make computations, and in essence, function and operate. That makes them vital for modern electronics, with semiconductors being the fourth-most traded product in the world behind crude oil, motor vehicle parts, and refined oil.

Here’s a breakdown of different applications of semiconductor devices by market sizes in 2019: