Taking the integrated circuit （IC） industry in the Yangtze River Delta as a case study, this paper divides the IC industrial chain into five segments： material manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, integrated circuit manufacturing, packaging and testing, and design. Based on firm-level and patent data from 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta during 2010-2024, we establish a matching framework between industrial chain segments, technological categories, and firms to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns and evolutionary dynamics of IC industrial chain differentiation. Furthermore, we measure the technological relatedness between different industrial chain segments and cities' existing technological capabilities, and examine its effects on cities' entry into specific segments. The results show that： First, the differentiation of IC industrial chain segments in the Yangtze River Delta exhibits a “patchy diffusion” and “peripheral penetration” spatial pattern, an upstream-oriented restructuring of segment composition, and a dynamic trajectory of initial expansion followed by contraction. Second, technological relatedness significantly increases the likelihood of cities entering corresponding industrial chain segments, indicating that the alignment between cities' existing technological capabilities and the technological requirements of target segments is a key determinant of regional industrial chain differentiation. Third, city size, measured by population and economic scale, negatively moderates the effect of technological relatedness on industrial segment entry. This study extends the application of the “relatedness principle” in evolutionary economic geography from industrial diversification to industrial chain segment specialization, and provides policy implications for differentiated industrial chain development and regional coordination in the Yangtze River Delta.
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