Read the text ‘Chip Wars’: US, China and the battle for semiconductor supremacy:
The semiconductor industry has transformed into a high stakes geopolitical issue and a source of tension between the US, China and Taiwan, with potential implications for global commerce.
Semiconductors, known as “chips”, are at the heart of economic growth and a vital component of technological innovation. Nano-sized silicon wafers, thinner than a strand of human hair and consisting of up to 40 billion components, have a gigantic impact on the global economy.
Incredibly complex and capital intensive, these integrated circuits (IC) power everything from computers, smartphones, cars, data centre servers to gaming consoles.And the demand for chipsis only rising, just as the industry faces a shortage crisis as the Covid-19 pandemic and international trade disputes strain supply and value chains.
(Source: https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/chip-wars-us-chinaand-the-battle-for-semiconductor-supremacy-45052. Access on: August 18th, 2022.)
The text states that ‘the industry faces a shortage crisis’. Select the alternative with the veracious reason for the crisis:
