Title: What's causing the chip shortage affecting PS5, cars and more?
Headings: Why there’s a chip shortage that’s hurting everything from the PlayStation 5 to the Chevy Malibu
Why there’s a chip shortage that’s hurting everything from the PlayStation 5 to the Chevy Malibu
Key Points
A huge boom in electronics sales
Business shift to outsourcing slams factories
Trump’s trade war

Content: Car manufacturers also use automotive-grade chips, which are painstakingly “qualified” against binders of industry standards to make sure they’re durable and reliable. “ It is more difficult for the industry to alternatively transition its production lines and supply chains elsewhere,” Trendforce, a consulting group covering the semiconductor industry, wrote in a report last month. Trump’s trade war
Last last year, the U.S. placed restrictions on Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), the biggest foundry in China, barring it from getting advanced chip manufacturing gear, and making it much harder to sell its finished products to companies with U.S. ties. Customers needed to shift their orders to competitors like TSMC, Gupta said. SMIC executives acknowledged that the U.S. move has prevented it from using its full capacity when it said geopolitical factors would prevent it from seizing “this year’s rare market opportunity,” referring to the chip shortage. Some companies also decided to stockpile essential chips ahead of the U.S. deadline, using up production capacity last year. For example, Huawei stockpiled critical radio chips ahead of sanctions, Bloomberg News reported. Stockpiling was also driven by supply concerns as Covid swept across the world. SK Hynix, a major memory chip maker, said last July it saw a surge of sales driven by “growing anxiety about IT supply chain in general.” Some companies that stockpiled chips are reaping the benefits now.