While the chip crunch appears to be peaking, the demand for semiconductors is set to grow as these chips drive all things electronic that modern life increasingly depends on.
As chip suppliers scramble to meet demand for ever smaller and ever more powerful transistors - a market expected to almost double to US$1 trillion by the end of the decade - the future-facing industry must contend with a post-pandemic world of labour shortages, great-power rivalries and customers who want to produce the gadgets for themselves.
The Republic's semiconductor industry is one of the region's most diverse, having drawn global giants and an ecosystem of small and mid-sized firms up and downstream. The world's largest semiconductor manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co , encouraged by the Japanese government with subsidies worth up to 476 billion yen , is building a US$8.6 billion plant with Japanese business partners.