Semiconductor industry: at the heart of global technology

The semiconductor industry is a catch-all term for the broad range of companies that design, manufacture and sell microchips. Microchips, or chips, are a collection of switches controlled by electrical pulses. 

These switches are printed onto a board using a semiconductor material, such as silicon, or to a lesser extent germanium. The conductive nature of the board allows components to be etched into the material in layers, along with the connections to facilitate the flow of electrical signals.