Enterprise Knowledge Capital: Shaping Innovation Strategies in the Semiconductor Industry and Their Challenges in A Changing World

In a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive world, enterprise knowledge capital plays a central role in shaping innovation strategies and securing technological leadership. This is particularly evident in the semiconductor industry, a cornerstone of the digital economy and of the “twin transition”. In this highly globalized value chain, production is concentrated in a few strategic countries – such as Taiwan, at the center of territorial tensions – making it a focal point of geopolitical rivalry. The globalization of the semiconductor value chain has led to a loss of sovereignty for many industrialized nations over this critical sector. In response, leading firms, often backed by state support, are developing strategies to strengthen and protect their knowledge capital in order to regain control over key segments of the value chain. This study explores how enterprise knowledge capital, defined as the set of scientific and technical information and knowledge organized by firms, has become both an economic asset and a geopolitical lever. It analyzes how states and firms co-develop, protect, and mobilize knowledge capital to secure technological leadership, underscoring its decisive role in shaping innovation paths and global power relations.