The tech world order that came together in the '90s at the Cold War's end is falling apart today as a new rift between Russia and the West opens and a great retrenchment begins.
Why it matters: The breakup of the USSR in the early '90s opened an era in which internet use rapidly spread around the globe and U.S. tech companies viewed the entire planet as both factory floor and market.
Driving the news: A new COVID outbreak that's spread from Hong Kong to nearby Shenzhen, China, has led Foxconn the gigantic Taiwan-based tech supplier to temporarily close production complexes there that manufacture, among other things, Apple's iPhone.
At the same time, Ukraine's plight has pushed many U.S.-based tech giants toward taking sides in a major international conflict, turning the power of their platforms toward blocking Russian state propaganda.
The big picture: Beginning in the '90s and accelerating after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, China became the tech industry's foundry. The relationship brought benefits to both sides.
Now all that, plus the pandemic, has left the U.S. in a "bring production home from overseas" mood.
The result is the start of a vast withdrawal from a single global tech market.
Yes, but: A restructured international tech order, with native companies providing more software, services and even devices, could be more diverse, resilient, and vibrant than today's world, in which a handful of companies serve billions of customers in largely the same ways.
Our thought bubble: Decentralization is a watchword for industry visionaries, and that's exactly what's happening right now in the tech economy around the globe.
What's next: A modest retrenchment could see some tech manufacturing return to the U.S. while software services become less global in ambition.
Read more:
China, pandemic, Ukraine war are ending the tech industry's globalist dream - Axios
