THESE tiny chips have become one of the most important things in the world right now…

But most of us still don’t give these semiconductors – which are variously called ‘chips’ and ‘integrated circuits’ - a second thought.

Nonetheless, they’re present in every piece of technology we use from the moment we rise in the morning.

From switching on the kettle for that first cuppa to powering up the computers and phones which rest at the heart of our daily lives – semiconductors surround us.

Following the pandemic, there was widespread coverage in the media about the global supply shortage of semiconductors required by car manufacturers.

And they’re fast becoming one of the most important commodities of our age.

In fact, since 2015, semiconductors have been the most traded good in the world by dollar value.

There were more than 1.1 trillion chips sold in the world in 2021 - that’s about 130 million every hour.

In recent years, more money has been spent on buying semiconductors than on buying crude oil.

And the importance of these chips should not be lost on any of us…

By way of comparison, let’s look at what happened with OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).

Formed in 1960, OPEC - which co-ordinates and unifies petroleum policies and pricing among member countries - has a 40% market share of global oil.

Much of twentieth century geopolitics was also focussed on the Middle East because of that concentration of power.

Now the same thing is happening with semiconductors.

It's been interesting to note how the United States government is pulling out all the stops to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, injecting billions of dollars and flexing all policy muscles available to give it a leg up over competition from Asia.

Indeed, the semiconductor manufacturing industry is currently concentrated in a relatively small part of South Asia - and South Korea, in particular.

And we now wait to see whether the geopolitical action refocuses on this continent in the next 50 years.

It's certainly an area I'll be keeping an eye on.