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The global economy can no longer be understood without integrating the central role of semiconductors. These components, which have been essential since the era of microcomputers, have evolved to become the fundamental building blocks of the cloud, data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructures, and e-commerce platforms. According to industry data, global semiconductor sales grew by nearly 22.7% year-on-year, driven by demand for AI and cloud technologies, despite typical monthly market swings.
This growing importance is fueling what analysts call the “chip war”: a global competition where states, strategic alliances, and big companies compete to secure access to advanced chip production, an engine for growth and technological sovereignty.
TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is now one of the most influential players in this competition. In 2025, the Taiwanese founder raised its growth forecasts, estimating an increase in turnover of nearly 35% over the year, driven by the demand for chips related to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing systems.
TSMC dominates the manufacturing of the most advanced chips (3nm and beyond), on which much of the cloud infrastructure needed to train and deploy the most powerful AI models is based. This position gives the company a major influence on the global technological trajectory, as hardware architectures shape the performance of AI systems and, by extension, intelligent or personalized e-commerce platforms.
The competition is not limited to businesses: it is open between geopolitical blocks. Advanced technology export policies, especially those imposed by the United States, have pushed countries like China to circumvent certain restrictions by modernizing their production capacities with alternative equipment.
This fragmentation of supply chains favors the creation of regional blocks with divergent approaches (United States, European Union, China, Asia-Pacific). At the same time, the growth in investments in manufacturing tools is expected to increase by 9% in 2026 to reach $126 billion, driven by AI demand around the world.
These dynamics show that technological sovereignty is now a major economic issue, and not just a question of industrial policy.
The effects of this competition are directly reflected in the markets. In addition to optimism about TSMC's growth, global semiconductor sales continue to grow, a sign that demand for integrated components remains robust, driven by AI, cloud infrastructures, and consumer electronics.
However, this growth is not without volatility: some manufacturer stocks have experienced market movements influenced by fears of an AI bubble and valuation revisions according to the quarterly outlook.
For investors and businesses, this means that the digital age is now closely linked to the performance and accessibility of semiconductor technologies, pushing some players to redefine their hardware acquisition strategies and innovation priorities.
For AI and e-commerce, mastering high-end chips is an inflection point: it conditions the ability to train bigger models, deploy real-time recommendation systems, accelerate data analysis, and deliver personalized user experiences.
This transformation means that businesses that effectively integrate high-performance hardware architectures (often through strategic partnerships or supply chain commitments) have a significant competitive advantage. E-commerce platforms that take advantage of AI for logistics, the customer journey, or the automation of operations increase their productivity and their ability to anticipate market needs, a factor that will become even more crucial as AI integrates into all levels of the customer experience.
