Towers in Collapse

The Global Semiconductor Supply Chain

This is no ordinary tower.

Each layer of this tower represents a country in the global supply chain.

The arrangement and number of blocks in a layer are not random; they reflect that country's betweenness centrality—how crucial its semiconductor companies are in connecting the world.

A country with high betweenness centrality acts as a key bridge in supply chains. If it’s disrupted, it can break many trade routes at once. For example, if most paths go through country D, its failure could disconnect entire regions from critical components.

Low centrality

Moderate

Moderately high

High centrality

More central means more structure—
but also more pressure.

More bricks, more responsibility.

More responsibility, more risk.

You can reorder the tower:

By number of companies involved in the supply chain,

or by PageRank—how authoritative they are online.

PageRank shows how important a country is based on links from other important ones. A high PageRank means it's a key supplier or hub—if disrupted, it can impact both direct partners and wider supply chains

fewer
companies

lower
rank

Each sort reveals new fragilities.

New insights. New risks.

Which layer, if diminished or removed, will cause collapse?

Is it the large, bottom one?

Or the small but central?

This is the hidden geometry of globalization.

A balance of power, precision, and vulnerability.

And at its core: the semiconductor.

Credits

The initial concept of the metaphoric Jenga model was developed by Jonathan Martin, Julia Bauzá Martinez, Maria Jemimah Margallo, and Daniel Malzl as part of a hands-on project during the Visualizing Complexity Science Workshop 2024, focused on the global semiconductor supply chain, presented by Dr. Elma Hot Dervic. Following the workshop, workshop guest artist Jonas Bohatsch, organizer Liuhuaying Yang, and Dr. Elma Hot Dervic collaborated with them to refine and implement the project.

Presented research

Klimek, Peter & Gerschberger, Markus & Schwarz, Christopher & Cioban, Tiberiu-Alexandru & Kügler, Agnes & Hot Dervic, Elma & Heiler, Georg & Picatto, Hernan & Friesenbichler, Klaus & Schmoigl, Lukas. (2024). Mapping of the global semiconductor supply chain - Embedding Austria in the global semiconductor inter-firm network.