Title: Recent Shortages in the Semiconductor Industry | Source Today
Headings: Recent Shortages in the Semiconductor Industry
Recent Shortages in the Semiconductor Industry
How the Automotive Chip Shortage Became a Global Semiconductor Crunch
Enacting Long-Term Solutions

Content: As people settled into the pandemic, the need for transportation was drastically reduced. Consequently, automakers slashed their electronic component orders due to a lack of visibility regarding the industry’s revival. However, consumer interest in new cars, particularly chip-dense electric vehicles (EVs), unexpectedly spiked near the end of 2020. As carmakers placed large rush IC orders, they found suppliers were short on inventory. Coronavirus-related lockdowns had prompted a digitalization wave that generated massive demand for new data center, personal computer, smartphone and video game console parts. Leading pure-play foundries reacted to the trend by focusing their production lines on fabricating commercial and consumer electronics products. In addition to this, a shortage for certain raw materials like silicon wafers and ABF substrates placed a further squeeze on semiconductor production capacity. As the crisis worsened, government leaders asked chipmakers and foundries to adjust their output to support the ailing auto industry. TSMC and other leading contract IC manufacturers agreed to help and shuffled the production lines to alleviate the component crunch. Unfortunately, the unplanned adjustment disrupted the global supply chain, causing pricing fluctuations, shortages and delayed availability for many non-vehicle ICs worldwide.