Semiconductors: Chips are back, but not equally or for everyone

In the space of six months, the global semiconductor industry turned from being one of the hottest sectors to being among the most beaten up and bruised. An economic downturn, continued Covid lockdowns in China, heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and harsher rules from Washington wiped close to $2 trillion off the value of listed chipmakers.

Now they’re back. An extraordinary turnaround over the past month has added $600 billion to the value of these companies. The rebound hasn’t been distributed equally, though, with some geographies and product sectors doing better than others.