Semiconductors: a Role for Russia?

Mainstream thinking on chips evolves around potential conflict of mainland China with Taiwan. It suggests that since each produces 22% of global microchips, a military crisis would put the whole industry (and the world) in serious crisis. True. But there's one element missing.

Russia accounts for 80% of the market for sapphire substrates - thin plates made of artificial stone, which are used in opto- and microelectronics to build up layers of various materials such as silicon. They are used in every processor in the world. Russia holds an even stronger position in special chip-etching chemistry using ultra-clean components, accounting for less than 100% of the world's supply of certain rare earth elements used for these purposes. A ban on finished products for Russia will result in a retaliatory ban on the supply of these components, possibly causing a shortage of processors globally.

As the sanctions war is getting uglier, the cost-benefit analysis would help.