Semiconductors are the invisible foundation of the modern world. From powering smartphones and laptops to enabling artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and national defense systems, these tiny silicon-based components have quietly become the most strategically valuable resources of the 21st century. Yet despite their importance, the semiconductor industry remains complex, technical, and often inaccessible to those outside the field. This A–Z Primer is designed to change that. Whether you're an investor, policymaker, student, or simply curious about the technologies shaping the global economy, this series will break down the semiconductor ecosystem—from its historical origins to the geopolitical battles of today—into clear, accessible, and actionable insights. Below is your guide to everything that’s coming.
To avoid any confusion as we go deeper into this complex and fast-moving space, I’ve put together this guide as a single reference point. Below, you’ll find the full list of articles in order of publication. Each piece builds on the last, so I recommend reading them sequentially if you’re new to the topic—but feel free to dive into specific sections depending on your interests.
Part 1
Silicon Gold Rush: Why Semiconductors Are The New Global Currency
The invisible building blocks powering our digital world have become the most strategically valuable resources on the planet. As we venture deeper into 2025, semiconductors—those tiny electronic components etched onto silicon wafers—continue to reshape global economies, transform industries, and create unprecedented investment opportunities across multi…
Part 2
From Vacuum Tubes to AI Gold Rush: The $700 Billion Revolution That Rewrote Investment Rules
The semiconductor industry's remarkable journey from laboratory curiosity to the backbone of the global economy represents one of the most profound investment transformations in modern financial history. What began as a quest to replace unreliable vacuum tubes has evolved into a $626 billion industry that drives artificial intelligence, powers smartphon…
Part 3
Silicon Wars: The Hidden Battlefield Reshaping Global Finance in 2025
The global economy runs on silicon—not the palm-lined streets of Silicon Valley, but the actual element that powers everything from the smartphone in your pocket to the sophisticated trading algorithms executing millions of transactions per second. As geopolitical tensions rise and supply chains face unprecedented strain, the journey from simple sand to…
Part 4
The Hidden Empire: How Ukraine's Gas and China's Metals Hold Silicon Valley Hostage
In the shadowy world of semiconductor manufacturing, a few grams of Ukrainian neon gas can shut down a $50 billion chip fabrication facility, while a Chinese embargo on gallium can send shockwaves through trillion-dollar technology giants. The semiconductor industry, projected to reach $697 billion in 2025, operates on a foundation more fragile than gla…
Part 5
The New Commodity Kings: How Three Nations Hold Silicon Valley's Throat
In the shadowy world of global resource control, three unlikely kingmakers have emerged to hold the future of technology in their hands. While investors obsess over artificial intelligence breakthroughs and quarterly earnings, a more fundamental drama unfolds across continents—one where geography trumps innovation, and where the periodic table matters m…
Part 6
The $697 Billion Semiconductor Empire: How AI Titans Are Reshaping Global Markets
The semiconductor industry stands at an unprecedented inflection point in 2025, with artificial intelligence demand catalyzing a fundamental restructuring of global supply chains, manufacturing capabilities, and investment flows. The industry is projected to reach approximately $697 billion in 2025, marking an 11% year-over-year increase, while foundrie…
Part 7
The Microchip Cold War: Why Tiny Semiconductors Are Triggering Massive Market Moves
This is Part 7 of our comprehensive semiconductor industry primer series. If you're new to this series, check out our previous articles to build your foundational understanding of this critical industry:
Part 8
Silicon Wars: How the US-China Chip Battle is Rewiring Global Markets
This is Part 8 of our comprehensive primer on the semiconductor industry. For the complete series covering everything from chip fundamentals to geopolitical implications, visit our semiconductor series hub -
Part 9
The Chip Paradigm: How Next-Generation Semiconductors Are Rewriting Asset Class Rules
The semiconductor industry stands at an unprecedented crossroads in 2025, where the convergence of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and next-generation connectivity technologies is fundamentally reshaping not just how chips are designed and manufactured, but how entire asset classes correlate and perform in modern portfolios. This transformat…
Part 10
The Silicon Fault Lines: When Chips Fall, Markets Shatter
The semiconductor industry stands as the invisible foundation of our modern world—powering everything from smartphones to autonomous vehicles, data centers to defense systems. Yet beneath this technological marvel lies a web of vulnerabilities so intricate and interconnected that when disrupted, they send shockwaves across global markets, reshaping asse…
Part 11
The Silicon Iron Curtain: How the Great Chip Divide is Reshaping Global Markets
The year 2025 has crystallized into a defining moment for the global semiconductor industry—one that will be remembered as the year the world's technology landscape permanently fractured along geopolitical lines. As nations scramble to achieve the holy grail of semiconductor self-sufficiency, three distinct narratives have emerged from the silicon trenc…
Part 12
The Silicon Scandal: How Semiconductor ESG Crisis Is Rewiring Global Investment Markets
This is Part 12 of our comprehensive Semiconductors A-Z series. For the complete collection of articles covering everything from basic chip fundamentals to geopolitical supply chain battles, visit our Semiconductor A-Z Series Hub:
Part 13
The Silicon Singularity: How Chip Wars Are Reshaping Global Finance Forever
This is the 13th and final installment of our comprehensive primer on the semiconductor industry. Through this series, we've explored everything from the technical foundations of chip manufacturing to the complex geopolitical dynamics that now define this critical sector. In this concluding piece, we examine how the "chip wars" are fundamentally transfo…