jaguar land rover is owned by india's tata motors.major chip maker asml has reported its first—quarter earnings and posted a three three—fold jump in net profit and beating analysts expectations. taiwan's tsmc is also due to report its quarterly earnings later today, and we'll be watching to see if there are any signs of recovery there after enjoying a boom during the covid—19 lockdown period. semiconductor companies warned of a gloomier outlook late last year. but as our asia business correspondent nick marsh explains, that that's just the cyclical nature of this industry. chips are the new oil. it's the kind of thing we've been hearing for a while now. but amid all the talk, you might have missed the fact that the sector's actually in the middle of a slump right now. it has been for some time. let me explain why. a couple of years ago, it was boom time for the semiconductor industry. covid created supply chain problems and therefore semiconductor shortages that sent customers scrambling to stock up even when the prices were high. pl