China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan together account for 80.5% of the world’s digital hardware manufacturing capacity, placing the region at the heart of global technology supply chains. China alone concentrates 58.8% of that capacity.
What is produced in the region?
East Asia covers the main elements of hardware production: semiconductor chips, displays, printed circuit boards, smartphones and computers. Taiwan holds 10.2% and is the second largest contributor, while South Korea and Japan add further significant shares. Combined, the four economies represent 80.5% of global capacity.
Major companies headquartered or operating in the region include TSMC, Foxconn, Samsung, BOE and Sony, which together form a dense regional manufacturing and supply ecosystem.
China’s position and industrial goals
China’s 58.8% share is nearly six times Taiwan’s 10.2% and exceeds the combined share of all other countries in the dataset. Beijing has set out an updated five‑year plan to consolidate its leadership in electronics, focusing on semiconductors, artificial intelligence and other strategic technologies. The plan emphasises strengthening the supply chain for integrated circuits, including chips.
One target of the plan is that revenues from the relevant industries exceed 30 trillion yuan (about 4.5 trillion dollars) by 2030.
India and Southeast Asia as emerging manufacturing hubs
Outside the four leading East Asian economies, India ranks fifth with a 3.8% share, just ahead of Vietnam at 3.6%. Several Southeast Asian economies also appear in the ranking: Thailand contributes 1.3%, Singapore 0.7%, Malaysia 0.6% and Indonesia 0.3%.
By comparison, Germany — the largest European country in the dataset — accounts for only 0.7% of global capacity.
The United States: design leadership and onshore investment
Although a large share of physical manufacturing capacity is concentrated in Asia, the United States remains a key player in semiconductor design and innovation. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, US‑headquartered companies accounted for 53.4% of global semiconductor sales in 2025.
At the same time, the industry has announced substantial investments to expand on‑shore manufacturing capacity: since 2020, companies have declared more than 770 billion dollars of private‑sector investments in the United States across 160 projects, covering chip production, materials, manufacturing equipment and research.
Why this matters
The concentration of digital hardware manufacturing in East Asia affects supply‑chain resilience, geopolitical risk and the global technology competitive landscape. The growing roles of India and several Southeast Asian countries, together with large US investments to rebuild domestic production capacity, may influence the geographic distribution of manufacturing over the coming years.
