The semiconductor industry is registering impressive numbers for 2021 and 2022, even as global shortages persist, and the scarcity points to the significance and critical importance of chips for numerous end products from cars to appliances and phones. Combined sales from the industry crossed $500 billion last year, and in 2022, is expected to reach nearly $600 billion. The steady increase in demand has prompted experts in the sector to predict the industry will reach $1 trillion within a decade. “It took 50 years to become a half-a-trillion-dollar industry. It’ll take just eight to 10 years to reach a trillion dollars,” said Tom Caulfield, CEO of GlobalFoundries, reported the Wall Street Journal. Reliance on technology surged during the pandemic as education and work went online with semiconductor manufacturing already amid a supply chain crunch that has yet to be resolved. The absence of critical chips led to halting production of …