Executive Briefing | Semiconductors: Competition and Conflict

What is the long-term forecast for the semiconductor industry? How can business and government prepare for an era of strategic competition in which semiconductors are already in short supply?

Semiconductors form the bedrock of our digital revolution. Everything that is central to modern living, be that driving a car, using our phones, or building supercomputers are based on a semiconductor and plenty of them. Yet U.S-China tensions, Covid-19 and extreme weather events are placing strain on an industry that is already struggling to keep up with demand. Geoeconomic competition has also ramped up production bottlenecks and galvanised policy makers to focus on supply chain security.

More than this, semiconductor manufacturers are being limited by a shortage of technical labour. The United States, South Korea, Taiwan and even China are struggling to fill jobs requiring expertise in cutting edge technologies. All these factors are leading to a ‘capacity crunch’ which means demand will far outstrip supply for the foreseeable future. Major powers across the world are now racing to produce, procure and innovate within the semiconductor sphere – not only to secure technological dominance, but ensure their supply chains, crucial to our digital lifestyles, are secured.

Join us for a discussion on the booming semiconductor industry with Anja Manuel, Co-founder and Principal, Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, Roy Chun Lee, Deputy Executive Director of the Taiwan WTO and Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, and Merriden Varrall, Director of Australia Geopolitics Hub, KPMG.

Date: Thursday 28 October 2021

Time: 11 – 11:45 a.m. AEDT

Venue: Zoom Meetings

Please note this event will run as a webcast only. Registration is essential. For any enquiries, please contact programaustralia@asiasociety.org