The writer is founder of Sifted, an FT-backed media site for European start-ups

The table stakes to play in the global semiconductor market keep spiralling upwards. This month, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, one of the world’s leading chipmakers, said it would hike capital expenditure to as much as $44bn this year, almost three times more than 2019. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics had previously signalled a hefty increase in semiconductor spending; the US manufacturer Intel this week announced it would invest more than $20bn in building two chip factories in Ohio.

One industry leader has likened the competition to gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome. “If you win, all that you have accomplished is the right to go to the Colosseum one more time,” Cristiano Amon, chief executive of the US chip designer Qualcomm, told the FT.