While there may have been a near two-year hiatus in the physical meetings space for the global semiconductor sector at the hands of the pandemic, there was no such breathing space to be found in the industry itself during the Covid pandemic or ever since. The global microelectronics business is in vogue like never before; activity is brisk, demand is higher than ever before, and in 2022 we’ve had the case studies and statistics to prove it.
The indicators were there as 2021 drew to a close. For SEMI, the organisation connecting more than 2,500 member companies and 1.3 million semiconductor professionals worldwide, its SEMICON Europa, SEMICON West, SEMICON Japan and SEMICON Taiwan event were welcoming back exhibitors and visitors to show floors as 2021 concluded.
No less than four of SEMI’s seven flagship events hit the ground running from mid-November through to the close of December, with visionaries and industry leaders exploring the latest semiconductor trends and innovations. That event trail has continued in full force throughout 2022, and with good reason. The industry has been in the spotlight more than ever, in the context of exponentially increasing demand for electronics products and components and high-profile chip shortages highlighted by both the automotive and smart technologies sectors alike over the last 12-18 months.
We’ve also seen President Biden signed the ‘historic’ $52bn CHIPS Act into law in the US, on 9th August, to place the US as a forerunner once more in the semiconductor market and revitalise domestic manufacturing. It was widely regarded as a watershed moment for the region’s electronics sector and in turn, its specialty gases supply chain – a long-awaited development that many felt was becoming an imperative.
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