Explained: What makes semiconductors critical to multiple industries

The widespread global chip shortage resulting from the COVID-19 crisis has thrown up vulnerabilities in the global semiconductor supply chain and many technologies and products essential to our daily lives have been put at risk.

In February 2019, a year before the pandemic struck, the SIA (Semiconductor Industry Association) announced that in 2018 alone, a record-breaking ‘more than one trillion chips’ were sold. A more recent Wall Street Journal report tables that semiconductors rank as the world’s fourth most-traded product (imports and exports, counted), after crude oil, refined oil and cars. This, followed by US President Biden’s statement which categorically terms chips as “infrastructure”, confirms that there is no ambiguity around the fact the much-in-demand semiconductor chip is the new universal currency. Their ability to perform millions of complex operations and their energy efficiency make semiconductors a critical component of almost every sector, driving the global economy.