One-town monopolies: Yiwu makes 80% of Christmas decor, every EUV machine comes from Veldhoven
sahilypatel · x · 2026-10-11
A striking look at extreme supply-chain concentration: single small towns dominate entire product categories worldwide.
- Yiwu, China: 80% of the world's Christmas decorations
- Sialkot, Pakistan: 70% of hand-stitched footballs
- Spruce Pine, North Carolina: 70-90% of the world's high-purity quartz
- Veldhoven, Netherlands: every EUV chipmaking machine on Earth (ASML's home)
The list illustrates both the power of industrial clusters and the single-point-of-failure risk baked into global supply chains.
Related event: One town rules it all: Yiwu ornaments and ASML's EUV monopoly(4 posts)→
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