Continental drift is usually a process that happens over millions of years. Almost imperceptibly slowly, the ground beneath our feet is shifting, the land and the seas above moved by forces that are hard to measure.
But the process is not always so gradual. Occasionally ruptures in the fault lines between the tectonic plates that make up the Earth’s crust will violently shake – and force everyone to pay attention to what is happening. And in October last year, something similar happened in the tech industry.
With the stroke of a pen in the United States Department of Commerce, a shockwave reverberated through the global semiconductor supply chain, as new restrictions were brought into force to prevent American companies from exporting the most advanced computer chips to China.
The consequences are far-reaching, and the new rules will fundamentally transform the way the tech industry works. After 40 years of frenetic globalisation, which saw China become the world’s manufacturer of technology goods, the tectonic plates are shifting as China and the West now drift apart.
THE CLASHING SUPERPOWERS
So what motivated the dramatic move? In short, it’s a response to the rise
