By George Leopold

What’s at stake:
Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid edict painted his country into a corner, and it’s unclear how China can extract itself from Xi’s disastrous public-health policy. The rest of the world braces for the economic consequences of Beijing’s next move. 

How Beijing’s zero-Covid stance mutates into a sustainable public-health policy is the key question for the Chinese people and Western companies seeking to maintain their links to China’s supply chains and contract manufacturers.

By Ron Wilson

What’s at stake?
Major efforts are underway to build low-earth-orbit satellites that act as 5G base stations, communicating directly with conventional 5G handsets. Can this scheme work technically? And if so, can industry and governments sort out the labyrinth of business and regulatory issues it would create?

Imagine that your 5G smartphone would work anywhere—not just in the urban corridors where non-standalone 5G has been deployed today, but in rural villages, in the middle of nowhere, on planes, at sea: around the world. That vision is included within the international wireless standards body 3GPP’s recent Release 16. And it is the subject of accelerating research—and competition—among 5G technology suppliers and satellite communications providers.

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake:
Western chipmakers see some justifications and benefits arising from U.S. restrictions on technology exports to China. Cutting off access to advanced manufacturing equipment, they said, would limit China’s ability to innovate in areas such as new chip materials.

Western semiconductor executives may worry over the decoupling of the global economy as a result of geopolitical tensions between U.S.-allied nations and China, but they are not averse to benefiting from the imbroglio.

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake?
The roles semiconductor technologies play in the future of medical science and software-defined vehicles are huge. Still, chipmakers are not addressing the continued chip shortage faced by medical technology suppliers and healthcare providers.

While chip shortages affecting the automotive sector get most of the media attention, a retired industry executive warns that a lack of components used in medical devices has real-life consequences.

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake?
Lidar startups that developed new and innovative technologies once appeared to be ushering in the robotaxi era. But the automotive industry’s demands, coupled with geopolitics, have transformed the market, forcing lidar startups to fight for survival. Who should merge with whom, and which companies are acquisition targets?  

Ouster and Velodyne are the first two lidar companies to announce a merger among a wave of anticipated consolidations. The pair declared they were joining forces in early November.