Combined, China and Taiwan would hold about 37% of global IC capacity, almost 3x that of North America.
IC Insights’ October Update to The McClean Report, to be released later this month, draws upon information contained in its Global Wafer Capacity 2021-2025 report to discuss the current high tension environment between China and Taiwan and what it could mean for the IC industry.
In IC Insights’ opinion, healthy future global economic growth is increasingly dependent upon the continued introduction of advanced electronic systems. The critical components within these systems are integrated circuits (ICs), without which, advanced electronic systems cannot be produced.
The ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China has intensified over the past couple of years. Crippling trade sanctions, especially with regard to IC technology, that the U.S. has imposed on Huawei, China’s largest electronics company, and to a lesser extent on SMIC, China’s largest indigenous IC foundry, has, in IC Insights’ opinion, caused China to question how it will be able compete in the future IC and electronics industries. It is increasingly apparent that China’s answer to that question centers on its reunification with Taiwan.
