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.