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Foundations of innovation
While US tech giants dominate headlines, their success is often built on the foundational capabilities of international partners. Take, for instance, the journey of an AI algorithm. The powerful chips enabling large language models like ChatGPT are fabricated by Taiwan’s TSMC, using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines developed solely by ASML, a Dutch company whose technology can etch circuits finer than a virus using light particles smaller than atoms.
Testing these chips requires tools like Technoprobe’s nanoscale probe cards, manufactured in Italy, while cooling efficiency is enhanced by French firm Soitec’s engineered substrates. The precise flow of power across billions of transistors? That’s managed by Silergy, a Taiwanese specialist in analogue integrated circuits.
What unites these companies is not just their technical prowess, but their role as potential chokepoints in the global supply chain. Displacing one of them doesn’t just slow production, it can stall entire industries. This concentration of capability creates formidable competitive moats and long-term investment potential.
Global ecosystems, local experts
It’s not just about semiconductors. The entire digital economy depends on a network of essential enablers, companies such as Adyen, the Dutch payments platform that processes 40 per cent of Europe’s ecommerce volume across 150 currencies. Its unified, cross-border solution underpins payment flows for global giants such as Nike and Spotify.
Another example is SAP, Germany’s enterprise software powerhouse. Its products are embedded in countless business processes worldwide, from manufacturing vaccines to managing payrolls. Replacing it would be not only costly but operationally disruptive, a sign of its deep-rooted entrenchment.
These businesses are not just individually strong; they are increasingly interdependent. Shopify integrates with SAP to streamline digital storefronts. Adyen processes their payments. Each one plays a vital, behind-the-scenes role in the seamless functioning of modern commerce.
Why it matters for investors
Market attention often gravitates toward brand-name consumer platforms, overlooking the essential nature of the companies powering them. This perception gap presents a structural opportunity. These businesses benefit from scale, pricing power and decades of R&D, yet remain undervalued compared to their US counterparts.
Their global presence also provides diversification across geographies, currencies and customer bases, especially important in an era marked by trade tension, supply chain realignments and reshoring trends. For investors seeking durable growth and resilient business models, these firms are more than infrastructure, they are innovation enablers.
In today’s complex, interconnected economy, the most transformative companies aren’t always the ones you see, they’re often the ones powering what you see. For active investors with a global remit, these overlooked supply chain champions offer enduring value, defensibility and critical exposure to the future of innovation.
Risk factors
The views expressed should not be considered as advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a particular investment. They reflect opinion and should not be taken as statements of fact nor should any reliance be placed on them when making investment decisions.
This communication was produced and approved in September 2025 and has not been updated subsequently. It represents views held at the time of writing and may not reflect current thinking.
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