Semiconductor Supply Chain

Semiconductor Supply Chain — the global ecosystem of specialized companies that collaborate to design, manufacture, and deliver chips, one of the most complex supply chains in any industry.

Key Segments

• EDA Tools: Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens EDA — design software ($15B market)
• IP Cores: ARM, Synopsys, Imagination — licensable design blocks
• Design (Fabless): NVIDIA, Qualcomm, AMD, Apple, Broadcom — chip designers
• Foundry: TSMC, Samsung, GF, UMC — manufacturing
• Equipment: ASML, Applied Materials, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron, KLA — fab tools
• Materials: Shin-Etsu, SUMCO (wafers), JSR, TOK (photoresist), Entegris (specialty chemicals)
• Packaging/Test: ASE, Amkor, JCET — assembly and test

Geographic Concentration

• Design: 60%+ USA
• Manufacturing (advanced): 90%+ Taiwan (TSMC)
• Equipment (lithography): 100% Netherlands (ASML for EUV)
• Materials: 50%+ Japan
• Packaging: 50%+ China/Taiwan

Lead Times

• Design to silicon: 12-24 months
• New fab construction: 3-5 years
• Wafer cycle time: 2-3 months (hundreds of process steps)

Vulnerabilities

• Taiwan earthquake/conflict risk
• ASML single-source for EUV
• US-China technology restrictions reshaping trade flows

The semiconductor supply chain is arguably the most strategically important industrial ecosystem on Earth — disrupting it impacts every technology sector.