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: Electronic industry giants that have reported record sales say that they could’ve been even better if there was enough supply. Apple, which recently reported a blowout $111 billion quarter, told analysts it didn’t have enough supply of its new iPhones to meet demand. CEO Tim Cook told Reuters that “semiconductors are very tight.” AMD CEO Lisa Su, which makes the processor at the heart of Sony’s and Microsoft ’s new consoles, said last month that it expects shortages through the first half of the year, at least. “ The industry does need to increase the overall capacity levels,” Su said. Business shift to outsourcing slams factories
The shortage is highlighting a structural change in the semiconductor industry. Many of the top semiconductor companies are now “fabless,” which means that they only design the chips and the technology in them. Other companies, known as foundries, are largely contracted to actually make the chips. The foundries are run by companies like TSMC in Taiwan or Samsung in South Korea -- and as it turns out, they were already making chips as fast as they could. If a company cut orders in the early days of the pandemic, they had to get back in line.