Silicone rubber is increasingly moving beyond traditional industrial applications into high value technology sectors. Dow showcased its silicone materials and co-development capabilities at SEMICON Taiwan 2026, highlighting solutions designed for semiconductor manufacturers facing growing thermal, mechanical and integration challenges.

The company's technologies are particularly relevant to advanced packaging applications driven by artificial intelligence, high performance computing and data centre infrastructure.

The development highlights an important opportunity for the non-tyre rubber industry. Silicone elastomers offer properties such as thermal stability, flexibility, electrical insulation and resistance to demanding environments, making them attractive for sophisticated electronics and semiconductor applications.

The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and data centres is creating demand for materials capable of operating reliably under increasingly demanding thermal and mechanical conditions. This could open new markets for silicone-based components, seals, interfaces and protective materials.

For Indian rubber manufacturers, the trend reinforces the importance of moving toward specialty elastomers and high performance applications rather than competing only in conventional commodity products. Investment in formulation expertise, testing and application development could help Indian companies participate in these higher value supply chains.