Editing Electronics (section)

== Industry ==
{{Main|Electronics industry}}
{{Further|Consumer electronics|List of best-selling electronic devices|Semiconductor industry}}

The [[electronics industry]] consists of various branches. The central driving force behind the entire electronics industry is the [[semiconductor industry]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Annual Semiconductor Sales Increase 21.6 Percent, Top $400 Billion for First Time |url=https://www.semiconductors.org/annual-semiconductor-sales-increase-21.6-percent-top-400-billion-for-first-time/ |access-date=11 October 2019 |work=[[Semiconductor Industry Association]] |date=5 February 2018 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130013305/https://www.semiconductors.org/annual-semiconductor-sales-increase-21.6-percent-top-400-billion-for-first-time/ |url-status=live }}</ref> which has annual sales of over {{US$|481&nbsp;billion|long=no}} as of 2018.<ref name="deloitte">{{cite web |title=Semiconductors – the Next Wave |url=https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/cn/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-cn-tmt-semiconductors-the-next-wave-en-190422.pdf |publisher=[[Deloitte]] |date=April 2019 |access-date=11 October 2019 |archive-date=11 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011213511/https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/cn/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-cn-tmt-semiconductors-the-next-wave-en-190422.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The largest industry sector is [[e-commerce]],{{cn|date=May 2025|reason=e-commerce doesn’t belong to manufacturing of electronics, it’s retail. Who claims this?}} which generated over {{US$|29&nbsp;trillion|long=no}} in 2017.<ref name="unctad">{{cite news |title=Global e-Commerce sales surged to $29&nbsp;trillion |url=https://unctad.org/en/pages/PressRelease.aspx?OriginalVersionID=505 |access-date=13 October 2019 |publisher=[[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development]] |date=29 March 2019 |archive-date=21 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021154834/https://unctad.org/en/pages/PressRelease.aspx?OriginalVersionID=505 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[List of best-selling electronic devices|most widely manufactured electronic device]] is the [[metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor]] (MOSFET), with an estimated 13{{nbsp}}[[sextillion]] MOSFETs having been manufactured between 1960 and 2018.<ref name="computerhistory2018">{{cite web |title=13 Sextillion & Counting: The Long & Winding Road to the Most Frequently Manufactured Human Artifact in History |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/13-sextillion-counting-the-long-winding-road-to-the-most-frequently-manufactured-human-artifact-in-history/ |date=April 2, 2018 |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=28 July 2019 |archive-date=28 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728143013/https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/13-sextillion-counting-the-long-winding-road-to-the-most-frequently-manufactured-human-artifact-in-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1960s, U.S. manufacturers were unable to compete with Japanese companies such as [[Sony]] and [[Hitachi]] who could produce high-quality goods at lower prices. By the 1980s, however, U.S. manufacturers became the world leaders in semiconductor development and assembly.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Consumer electronics industry in the year 1960s.|url=https://natechnology.in/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127120812/https://natechnology.in/ |archive-date=27 January 2021 |access-date=2021-02-02|website=NaTechnology|language=en-US}}</ref>

However, during the 1990s and subsequently, the industry shifted overwhelmingly to East Asia (a process begun with the initial movement of [[microchip]] mass-production there in the 1970s), as plentiful, cheap labor, and increasing technological sophistication, became widely available there.<ref name="congress_giving_2022_08_03_forbes_com">[[Willy Shih|Shih, Willy]] ([[Harvard Business School]]): [https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyshih/2022/08/03/congress-is-giving-billions-to-the-us-semiconductor-industry-will-it-ease-chip-shortages/?sh=3ebd9629de4d "Congress Is Giving Billions To The U.S. Semiconductor Industry. Will It Ease Chip Shortages?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703102256/https://gum.criteo.com/syncframe?origin=publishertag&topUrl=www.forbes.com |date=3 July 2023 }} transcript, August 3, 2022, ''[[Forbes]],'' retrieved September 12, 2022</ref><ref name="strengthening_2022_06_02_csis_org">[[James Andrew Lewis|Lewis, James Andrew]]: [https://www.csis.org/analysis/strengthening-transnational-semiconductor-industry "Strengthening a Transnational Semiconductor Industry"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913013518/https://www.csis.org/analysis/strengthening-transnational-semiconductor-industry |date=13 September 2022 }} June 2, 2022, [[Center for Strategic and International Studies]] (CSIS), retrieved September 12, 2022</ref>

Over three decades, the United States' global share of  semiconductor manufacturing capacity fell, from 37% in 1990, to 12% in 2022.<ref name="strengthening_2022_06_02_csis_org" /> America's pre-eminent semiconductor manufacturer, [[Intel Corporation]], fell far behind its subcontractor [[Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company]] (TSMC) in manufacturing technology.<ref name="congress_giving_2022_08_03_forbes_com" />

By that time, [[Taiwan]] had become the world's leading source of advanced semiconductors<ref name="strengthening_2022_06_02_csis_org" /><ref name="congress_giving_2022_08_03_forbes_com" />—followed by [[South Korea]], the [[United States]], [[Japan]], [[Singapore]], and [[China]].<ref name="strengthening_2022_06_02_csis_org" /><ref name="congress_giving_2022_08_03_forbes_com" />

Important semiconductor industry facilities (which often are subsidiaries of a leading producer based elsewhere) also exist in Europe (notably the [[Netherlands]]), Southeast Asia, South America, and [[Israel]].<ref name="congress_giving_2022_08_03_forbes_com" />