How Trade Tensions are Reshaping the Global Semiconductor Landscape
By Saloni Gankar, Myson Robles-Bruce, and Joanne Goh.
This semiconductor playbook explores how geopolitical pressures are transforming the trillion-dollar industry, impacting AI development, and forcing companies to adapt through strategic relocations and innovative production models.
Price shockwaves through the supply chain
Measurable tariff impact on semiconductor forecasts
Manufacturing as strategic asset
The critical materials battleground
Regional realignment: The end of global integration
Impact on AI chip development
Corporate adaptation strategies
Looking ahead: Resilience over efficiency
The semiconductor industry stands at the epicenter of global trade tensions, with tariffs becoming powerful pieces in an international chess match. What was once the world's most globalized supply chain, with extreme regional specialization across design, fabrication, materials, and assembly, is now fragmenting under geopolitical pressures. Despite these challenges, we expect that the semiconductor market will be valued at $1 trillion in revenue by 2028, according to Omdia's Semiconductor Application Forecast (AMFT) 2Q25 report, this primarily driven by surging demand for AI chips and rising memory prices.
