semiconductor shortages Archives - Gizmochina

Global Chip Shortage issue intensifies, wait times hit record 21 weeks

Sean — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 09:59:06 +0000

The wait times for companies looking for chipsets have risen even further. In August, the industry has hit a record 21 weeks lead time, which is indicative of the global chip shortage issue worsening over time.

For those unaware, the world is facing a shortage of semiconductors at the moment. This has affected various industries across the globe, including the automobile, consumer electronics, and others. Lack of chips has led to carmakers halting production, while the electronics industry’s growth has also been stunted. According to research from Susquehanna Financial Group (Via Bloomberg), the lead times for chips has risen again and reached 21 weeks last month.

This marked a lead time rise of 6 days over July 2021. In layman’s terms, the gap between companies placing an order for semiconductors and receiving delivery has been on the rise. Back in July, we had reported on wait times hitting a record 18 weeks. As of right now, the gap is the longest wait times ever since the firm began tracking semiconductors since 2017.

Furthermore, the report found that the lead times for analog and Broadcom chips have also gotten worse, but the power management chips and certain optoelectronic components have seen a positive trend recently. Notably, the shortage of semiconductors have also impacted recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic. This holds especially true for the automobile industry, with reports suggestions that the entire automotive industry will lose around 110 billion US Dollars in sales.

Semiconductor shortage leads to rise in prices of electronic gadgets

Sean — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 09:35:41 +0000

The global shortage of semiconductors has already impacted various industries like automobiles. This has now further spread to affect downstream markets like the consumer electronic segments including personal computers, smartphones, and even home appliances as well, causing a hike in price across every sector.

According to a ChinaDaily report, these markets are already seeing price adjustments since the beginning of this year. The news based on a Business Herald report added that the average shipment prices for laptops in China rose by 6.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous quarter. Liu Jun, president of Lenovo‘s China branch stated in a financial briefing that “The PC industry is expected to witness price increases throughout the whole year.”

IDC Researcher Jitesh Ubrani further added that the “market continues to struggle with setbacks including component shortages and logistics issues, each of which has contributed to an increase in average selling prices.” Notably, certain models like the Huawei MateBook lineup saw prices going up by anywhere between 300 to 600 Yuan (roughly 47 to 94 US Dollars) from a few months prior. PC making brands like Acer, ASUS, and Lenovo have had to raise prices for their laptops due to the chip shortages.

The statistics revealed that over 30 companies in the semiconductor industry have adjusted their price since the second quarter, with a price hike in the range of 10 to 30 percent. Ryan Reith, IDC program vice president, said that “The ongoing shortages in the semiconductor space only further prolong the ability for vendors to refill inventory and fulfill orders to customers.” Despite the shortage, the global semiconductor revenue grew to 464 billion US Dollars last year.

South Korean government urged to offer tax reduction by local chip industry

Sean — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 10:09:28 +0000

The Korea Semiconductor Industry Association has asked the South Korean government to pass new laws that would benefit the chip industry. The organization has essentially asked for the government’s support through new regulations.

According to TheElec report, the association, in an open letter, stated that the US was planning on offering up to 40 percent tax reduction for semiconductor equipment expenditure, which is similar to the European Unions plans of offering a 67 trillion won project to help boost its local semiconductor production. In other words, the South Korean chip industry is basically asking for similar incentives to keep up with the foreign competition.

In 2020, the local semiconductor in South Korea accounted for an 18.4 percent market share, which was second only to the US. In terms of memory semiconductors, the region accounted for 56.9 percent of the market share, leading the global market. Semiconductor export accounted for 19.4 percent of South Korea’s total, with the equipment spending in chips locally accounting for over 40 percent of the total in the manufacturing sector overall.

In simpler terms, the industry is one of the pillar’s of South Korea’s economy, although, it is facing various challenges and hurdles ahead. Thus, the KSIA urged the government to offer up to 50 percent tax reduction in related research, development, and equipment spending. Additionally, chip based firms should also get support in approval to build new faculties, water supply, and other infrastructures as well, while universities in Seoul should open more majors related to semiconductors to recruit local talents, as per the organization.

Qualcomm’s upcoming CEO says US sanctions on Huawei might lessen stress on Global chip shortages

Balaji S — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 13:38:38 +0000

Early in January, Qualcomm had announced that Cristiano Amon would take over as the CEO of the company from June 30, 2021. Now, Amon has said that US sanctions against Huawei might help lessen the stress on semiconductor shortages.

Cristiano Amon | Image source: Qualcomm

In a webcast with Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall(via Bloomberg), he said that because of the hindrance on the chip manufacturing Huawei is facing, facilities at its partner TSMC would become free now. For the unware, TSMC had to halt Huawei’s orders in 2020 because of the tightened restrictions by the US Govt.

The Chinese Giant has henceforth not been able to make more of its HiSilicon Kirin chipsets lately. Anyway, Amon says that Although the facilities would now be available for others, difficulties in transfer of tech might delay the immediate benefits out of this.

Besides, Automakers around the world are facing Semiconductor shortages during the US-China Trade War and clamp down on Chinese tech firms. In fact, its worse in blooming Countries like Germany which has finally sought alternatives like Taiwanese firms.

Also, the demand in chip shortages has further increased the demand on key components Smartphones, Personal Computers, Automation, Networking, etc. This demand is expected to rise prices and persist till the end of H2 2021(Second-Half).

Coming back, Aman says that Qualcomm’s demands have surged than before. In fact, the company’s revenue in Oct.-Dec. 2020(marked as Q1 2021 in Fiscal Year) grew by a whopping 62%.

Qualcomm is eyeing the semiconductor manufacturing plants of TSMC and Samsung that are being planned to set up in the USA. Although it is barred from communicating with Huawei, it is trying its best to get in touch with the recently spun-off brand HONOR.

Finally, Amon said that the semiconductor dispute between US-China would take a long time to settle before reaching a resolution.