AI Foundation / RESEARCH MAP 02
Semiconductors
Which production constraint determines where value is captured?
From chip design to fabrication, packaging and testing.
Scope: Semiconductor production, with equipment and materials as enabling inputs. Not a ranking of individual companies or process nodes.
Geography: Global production lens; industry-body primer.
01 / HOW IT WORKS
Follow the value chain
DEX editorial map. Read left to right (top to bottom on mobile); companies may span several stages. Expand a stage to inspect its economics.
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Design
Chip designers and design-tool/IP suppliers
Specify the device and prepare it for production.
Revenue & bottleneck — Design
- Revenue models to investigate
- Chip sales, design services or intellectual-property licensing.
- Bottleneck to test
- Can the design meet performance, power and cost requirements?
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Wafer fabrication
Foundries, integrated manufacturers and input suppliers
Fabricate circuits on wafers using specialized facilities.
Revenue & bottleneck — Wafer fabrication
- Revenue models to investigate
- Manufacturing services or internally produced chip sales.
- Bottleneck to test
- Are yield and utilization sufficient to cover fixed costs?
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Assembly, test & packaging
Packaging/test providers and integrated manufacturers
Separate, test and package devices for customers.
Revenue & bottleneck — Assembly, test & packaging
- Revenue models to investigate
- Packaging and testing services or bundled chip sales.
- Bottleneck to test
- Can packaging capacity and reliability meet product requirements?
02 / FOLLOW THE MONEY · DEX INTERPRETATION
The business-model lens
Separate design economics from capital-intensive manufacturing. A shortage in one process or package does not imply a shortage across all chips.
03 / TEST THE THESIS · RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Signals to investigate. Risks to challenge.
Demand & adoption questions
- Which applications are creating durable design wins?
- Where do customer requirements exceed available production capability?
What could weaken the thesis?
- Capacity additions can arrive after the demand cycle changes.
- Geographic dependencies and customer concentration require separate analysis.
04 / BUILD A WATCHLIST
Metrics worth tracking
Suggested research metrics, not measured values. Collect primary data with a date, geography and definition before making comparisons.
- Manufacturing yield
- Good devices as a share of output, for a specified product/process.
- Capacity utilization
- Track actual loading, not announced capacity alone.
- Inventory & lead time
- Read together to distinguish shortages from order inflation.
05 / CHECK THE EVIDENCE
Evidence anchors & sources
These sources support the statements below. They do not validate every editorial hypothesis, imply endorsement, or refresh the explorer's market estimates.
- SIA's primer distinguishes design, front-end fabrication and back-end assembly, test and packaging. The three-stage map here follows that production sequence. [sia]
- Industry-body explainer
Semiconductor Industry Primer: The Stages of Production and Business Models
Supports: Production stages; foundational reference, not current market sizing.
CONTINUE THE RESEARCH
Go from map to evidence.
The 50-industry dataset is a separate screening resource with different coverage and source limitations. Related reports retain their own dates and scope.
Educational research framework only. Not investment, legal or medical advice.