Question

A major computer chip manufacturer has lost its supplier of silicon. Silicon is widely used in the semiconductor industry because its electrical conductivity is in between that of a conductor and that of an insulator.
WHAT COULD BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR SILICON

Answer 1

We know, silicon is a natural semi-conductor, if manufacturer has lost its supplier then they can look for another element which is quite similar to silicon in electronic configuration. 
We should go down the group, next element in 14th group is "Germanium" so we can use that for that purpose.

In short, Your Answer would be "Germanium"

Hope this helps!