Stefan Mileschin

Chips are down

Manufacturers are worried about a global shortage of chips, which is causing manufacturing delays as consumer demand bounces back from the coronavirus crisis.

There are several reasons for the shortage bulk-buying by US sanctions-hit Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, a fire at a chip plant in Japan, coronavirus lockdowns in Southeast Asia, a strike in France and the fact it is 2020 and everything is crap.

But more important is the under-investment in 8-inch chip manufacturing plants owned mostly by Asian firms, which means they have struggled to ramp up production as demand for 5G phones, laptops and cars picked up faster than expected.

Sand and Wave CEO Donny Zhang told Reuters that everyone in the electronics industry, is experiencing a shortage of components. He faced delays in obtaining a microcontroller unit that was key to a smart headphone product he was working on.

“We were originally planning to complete production in one month, but now it looks like we’ll need to do it in two.”

There are shortages of WiFi and Bluetooth chips and delays of more than 10 weeks.

https://fudzilla.com/news/52080-chip...-harm-recovery