A global shortage of semiconductors could stretch into the first quarter of 2023 and continue to hamper production of technology-dependent products like automobiles, according to an industry report from the electronics supply chain analysis firm Supplyframe.
Computer chips are in short supply as semiconductor production and testing have been hampered by a water shortage and Covid-19 outbreaks in Taiwan, where nearly half of the world’s semiconductors are manufactured, Supplyframe said in its latest Commodity Intelligence Quarterly (CIQ) report.
Additional Covid impacts include steep demand recoveries, extended lead times, and dramatic raw material and component price escalations, Pasadena, California-based Supplyframe said.
Together, those variables are pushing microchip analog device lead times longer, since buffer inventory has now been committed, the firm said. The new average lead times are between 25 and beyond 52 weeks – and, in some cases, up to 60 weeks.
“The top four semiconductor manufacturers serving the automotive sector continue to struggle with shortage issues, which are only getting more dire,” the report said. “As automotive companies rounded out the first half of 2021, the electronic component shortage became worse in the second quarter as compared with the first quarter, and also against the baseline of demand and supply availability in the third quarter of 2020.”
Supplyframe released the study shortly after announcing it would be acquired for $700 million by industrial technology giant Siemens through a deal expected to close in the fourth quarter.
According to Siemens, the move will help its customers to reduce costs, increase agility, and make more informed decisions. The acquisition also strengthens Siemens’ portfolio through software as a service (SaaS), not only in the field of electronic design automation (EDA) and printed circuit boards (PCB), but also scaling into other domains and technology fields, the German company said.
