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GCRI · Handel und strategische Ressourcen

Halbleiter und Komponenten

Semiconductors are made through a long value chain of design, specialised materials, manufacturing equipment, fabrication and assembly, with several steps concentrated in a few firms and places. Shortages can stall vehicles, medical devices and infrastructure. This page sets out how the chip value chain is structured, where it concentrates, how disruptions propagate, and what evidence serves the governments and industries that depend on it.

02Die Frage

Semiconductors and components: how the risk develops.

Electronics, advanced materials and fabrication inputs. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.

Mechanismus

Each step is specialised

Design tools, wafers, speciality gases and chemicals, lithography equipment, fabrication and packaging are each dominated by few suppliers. A bottleneck at any step limits output.

Mechanismus

Fabs take years and vast capital

Leading fabrication plants cost billions and take years to build. Capacity cannot be added quickly when demand changes or supply is disrupted.

Mechanismus

Geography concentrates risk

Advanced fabrication and assembly cluster in a few regions exposed to earthquakes, drought, power outages and geopolitical tension.

Mechanismus

Shortages hit downstream industries

Products need many chips, including mature, low-cost ones. A Stromknappheit of a single component can halt production lines far from where chips are made.

03Monitoring

Supplier tier map.

Die Ansicht, die ein Team nutzen würde, um dieses Thema zu verfolgen: seine Messgrößen, Zustände und Entscheidungen. Namen sind Beispiele, Werte sind illustrativ.

Supplier tier map

Semiconductors and components · Assembly cluster · Bill of materials BOM-059

Single source at tier 3GCRI · Handel und strategische Ressourcen

Tier mapping

  1. Stufe 112 suppliers
  2. Stufe 247
  3. Stufe 383
  4. Raw materials5

Konzentration

Rare earth magnet704002None qualifiedHoch
Gallium614836Recycling pilotHoch
Copper wire401196Two qualifiedNiedrig
Lithium cells522554One qualifiedMittel

Mitigation

Dual source
qualification 11 months
Buffer stock
9 weeks
Design change
substitution study
Inhaber
Leitung Beschaffung
Supplier tier map: the screen’s structure, terms and states for Semiconductors and components.Beispielnamen und beispielhafte Werte; ein Entwurf, kein Eintrag und kein Live-System.
04Domänenübergreifend

Chips sit inside the control systems of every domain.

Component supply studies are designed for the Reihe Strategic Systems. The European Chips Act (2023) is one of several national and regional responses to concentration in fabrication; the page names no firm.

05Methoden und Evidenz

How semiconductors and components is modelled, measured and tested.

Das Modell, seine Annahmen, seine Daten und seine Unsicherheit in der Form, in der eine Wissenschaftlerin oder ein Ingenieur sie prüfen würde. Die Strukturen folgen veröffentlichten Methoden. Die dargestellten Werte sind illustrativ, keine Befunde.

Systemmodell

The couplings between the systems in semiconductors and components: signs of influence, a reinforcing and a balancing loop, and cross-links where stress jumps.

++−+HandelIndustrieGemeinschaftenWirtschaftR verstärkendB ausgleichend
Causal loop diagram from the page’s systems; signs show the direction of influence. Illustrative structure for a system dynamics or network model, not estimated couplings.
FAIR-Leitprinzipien · GO FAIR und FORCE11W3C PROV · World Wide Web ConsortiumHinweise zur einheitlichen Behandlung von Unsicherheiten · IPCCCEOS Analysis Ready Data · Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
06Indikatoren

Was gemessen wird und wie gut.

Jeder Indikator trägt seine Einheit, seinen Rhythmus, die Art der zugrunde liegenden Quelle und die Evidenzkennzeichnung, die ein Wert tragen würde. Es werden keine Werte gezeigt: Ein Programm liefert sie unter seiner eigenen Autorität.

IndikatorEinheitTaktQuellentypKennzeichnung
Share of fabrication capacity by regionpercent of wafer capacityjährlichIndustry analysesGESCHÄTZT
Chip trade by product codevalue of trade in integrated circuitsjährlichHandelsstatistikenVeröffentlichte Statistiken
Supplier concentration in key inputsnumber of suppliers with significant shareje BewertungValue chain studiesGESCHÄTZT
Vorlaufzeit for chip ordersWochenmonatlichIndustry surveysBERICHTET
Export control measures on semiconductorsAnzahl der Maßnahmenje ÄnderungGovernment noticesVeröffentlichte Statistiken
Fabs exposed to natural hazardscount by hazard zoneje BewertungSite and hazard overlayGESCHÄTZT
07Quellen

Woher die Evidenz stammt.

Benannte öffentliche Datensätze und institutionelle Aufzeichnungen, jeweils mit ihrer Lizenzklasse. Quellen auf Vereinbarungsbasis werden nur zu ihren Bedingungen genutzt und niemals weiterveröffentlicht.

QuelleWas es liefertLizenzklasse
UN Comtrade (HS headings 8541 and 8542)Trade in semiconductor devices and integrated circuitsFree access with limits, UN terms
OECD studies of the semiconductor value chainStructure, concentration and policy analysisPublic, OECD terms
WSTS public summariesIndustry sales by region and product categoryPublic summaries; full data members only
Government export control noticesRules restricting trade in chips and equipmentPublic records, licence per government
Academic and think-tank value chain mappingsSupplier shares at each stepLicence per publication (to check)
08Entscheidungen

Wer entscheidet und wozu die Evidenz dient.

Trade and Strategic Resources prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.

Wer entscheidetDie FrageEvidenz, der diese Seite dient
Ministries of industry and technologyWhich value chain steps to support domestically or with partnersValue chain maps; concentration evidence
Critical sector operatorsWhich components to stockpile or qualify from second sourcesDownstream dependency analyses
Trade and security authoritiesHow export controls affect domestic supplyExport control evidence; trade data

Ergebnisse, die dieses Thema hervorbringt

  • Value chain maps showing concentration at each step
  • Hazard exposure overlays for fabrication sites
  • Downstream dependency analyses for critical sectors
  • Evidence notes on export control changes
09Kernfragen

What experts ask about semiconductor supply.

  • At which stages of the chain is capability concentrated in few firms or locations?
  • Which specialised inputs, such as high-purity gases, chemicals and wafers, are single-sourced?
  • How long would it take to replace lost fabrication capacity?
  • Which downstream sectors are most exposed to shortages of mature or advanced chips?
  • How do export controls and industrial policies change the structure of the chain?
10Mechanismen und Treiber

Why the chain is fragile.

Semiconductor manufacturing requires extreme precision, very large capital investment and accumulated know-how. Leading-edge fabrication plants take years to build and need specialised equipment from a handful of suppliers. These barriers favour concentration: each stage tends to have few capable players, and the stages are spread across different regions.

Shortages propagate widely because chips are embedded in so many products. Even inexpensive, mature-node chips can halt the production of much more valuable goods when they are missing. Long lead times and the difficulty of switching suppliers, since chips must be qualified for each product, slow recovery.

Other components share similar features: specialised capacitors, displays, sensors and advanced materials often depend on few producers and on inputs such as rare gases or high-purity minerals.

11Methoden und Daten

Methoden und ihre Grenzen.

  1. 01

    Supply chain mapping

    Tracing firms and locations at each production stage. Commercial confidentiality limits visibility beyond the first tiers.

  2. 02

    Netzwerkanalyse

    Identifying central nodes and single points of failure using Netzwerkwissenschaft. Firm-level links are often incomplete.

  3. 03

    Materials and process research

    Understanding critical inputs and alternatives using materials science and chemistry.

  4. 04

    Input-Output-Analyse

    Estimating sector exposure to component shortages. Tables are aggregated and published with delay.

The industry changes quickly, and analyses state the date and sources of the information used.

12Methoden

Wie es untersucht wird und was die Methoden nicht sagen können.

13Where this page’s references

Where this page’s references lead.

Die Gremien und Dokumente, vor deren Hintergrund diese Seite gelesen wird. Status und Ausgaben ändern sich; jeder Link führt zur herausgebenden Stelle.

14Fragen

Fragen und Antworten.

Why are semiconductor supply chains fragile?
Because several steps, from equipment to advanced fabrication, are concentrated in few firms and locations, capacity takes years to build, and products depend on many chips.
What is a fab?
A semiconductor fabrication plant, where chips are manufactured on silicon wafers under strict clean-room conditions.
Do mature chips matter?
Yes. Many vehicles, appliances and industrial systems rely on older, low-cost chips, and shortages of these can halt production as much as advanced chips.
Does the platform assess individual chip makers?
No. It studies the structure of the industry and its exposures with transparent methods, not individual firms.
Are export controls analysed?
Their effects on supply structure are analysed in neutral terms. The platform does not advise on compliance.
Why do mature chips matter?
Because many essential products use them, and their shortage can stop production as effectively as a shortage of advanced chips.
BerichteBeitragen

Evidenz von dieser Seite aus beitragen.

Berichte is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

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