Electronics industry trends 2021

515 Comments

1. September 26, 2021 at 2:24 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Historian eniten valmistettu tavara: 40000 000000 000000 000000 kpl – Yhtä paljon kuin tähtiä koko maailmankaikkeudessa
   Tuomas Kangasniemi14.9.202114:21|päivitetty14.9.202115:31TIEDEAVARUUSELEKTRONIIKKATIETOKONEEN KOMPONENTITHISTORIA
   99,9 % transistoreista on mosfet-tyyppiä, ja niitä on valmistettu lievästikin ilmaistuna tähtitieteellinen määrä.
   https://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/uutiset/historian-eniten-valmistettu-tavara-40000-000000-000000-000000-kpl-yhta-paljon-kuin-tahtia-koko-maailmankaikkeudessa/f1dc6ca9-f984-4597-b80b-50ecd04b5dab

   Ihmiskunnan historian eniten valmistettua kappaletavaraa on tehty niin monta kappaletta, että paras mitta sille alkaa olla mooli – eli yksikkö, jota kemistit ja fyysikot käyttävät atomien ja molekyylien lukumäärän mittaamiseen.

   Reply
2. September 26, 2021 at 2:25 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Chipmakers to carmakers: Time to get out of the semiconductor Stone Age
   https://fortune.com/2021/09/17/chip-makers-carmakers-time-get-out-semiconductor-stone-age/

   Reply
3. September 27, 2021 at 7:18 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Komponenttipula vie autonvalmistajilta 210 miljardia dollaria
   https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/12613-komponenttipula-vie-autonvalmistajilta-210-miljardia-dollaria

   Autoteollisuus on yksi aloista, jotka kärsivät tällä hetkellä pahiten komponenttipulasta. Useita tehtaita on jopa suljettu, koska tuotanto ei voida pitää käynnissä. Tutkimuslaitoksen mukaan komponenttipula aiheuttaa valmistajille tänä vuonna jättimäiset 210 miljardin dollarin menetykset.

   Näin arvioi autoalaa seuraava AlixPartners. Sen mukaan komponenttipulan takia jää valmistumatta 7,7 miljoonaa ajoneuvoa. Vielä toukokuussa ennusteessa puhuttiin 3,9 miljoonan ajoneuvon vajeesta. Tutkimuslaitoksen mukaan komponenttipula on vain yksi monista poikkeuksellisista häiriöistä, joita autoala kohtaa tällä hetkellä.

   - Tietysti kaikki olivat toivoneet, että komponenttikriisi olisi rauhoittunut tähän mennessä, mutta valitettavat tapahtumat, kuten COVID-19-pandemian aiheuttamat puolijohdetehtaiden sulkemiset Malesiassa ja jatkuvat ongelmat muualla ovat pahentaneet asioita, sanoo AlixPartnersin Mark Wakefield.

   Reply
4. September 27, 2021 at 10:01 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Nikkei Asia:
   Apple suppliers like Eson Precision Engineering, Unimicron Technology, and Concraft Holding halt production until Friday as China tightens its energy policy — Weeklong stoppages to hit peak season for electronics goods including latest iPhone — An Apple Store in Beijing sells the new Apple iPhone 13.

   Key Apple, Tesla suppliers halt production amid China power crunch
   Weeklong stoppages to hit peak season for electronics goods including latest iPhone
   https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Key-Apple-Tesla-suppliers-halt-production-amid-China-power-crunch

   Reply
5. September 28, 2021 at 7:27 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Electronics Industry Faces Labor Shortages as Chip Deficit Drags On
   Sept. 25, 2021
   Around 60% of electronics manufacturers and other industry players project the global chip shortage to last until at least the second half of 2022, according to the most recent survey by trade group IPC.
   https://www.electronicdesign.com/markets/automotive/article/21176398/electronic-design-electronics-industry-faces-labor-shortages-as-chip-deficit-drags-on?utm_source=EG%20ED%20Analog%20%26%20Power%20Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS210916124&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

   The global chip shortage has plagued the electronic industry for close to a year. But a majority of electronics manufacturers now say they are also struggling to hire workers to run their factories, leading to longer delays in shipping products.

   IPC, a leading electronics industry trade group, said around 80% of the companies that responded to its most recent survey are finding it “somewhat” or “extremely” difficult to hire highly qualified workers. More than two-thirds of the companies also said that, on top of rising component and materials costs, labor costs are also up.

   Reply
6. September 28, 2021 at 1:42 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Electronics Industry Faces Labor Shortages as Chip Deficit Drags On
   Sept. 25, 2021
   Around 60% of electronics manufacturers and other industry players project the global chip shortage to last until at least the second half of 2022, according to the most recent survey by trade group IPC.
   https://www.electronicdesign.com/markets/automotive/article/21176398/electronic-design-electronics-industry-faces-labor-shortages-as-chip-deficit-drags-on

   The global chip shortage has plagued the electronic industry for close to a year. But a majority of electronics manufacturers now say they are also struggling to hire workers to run their factories, leading to longer delays in shipping products.

   IPC, a leading electronics industry trade group, said around 80% of the companies that responded to its most recent survey are finding it “somewhat” or “extremely” difficult to hire highly qualified workers. More than two-thirds of the companies also said that, on top of rising component and materials costs, labor costs are also up.

   Reply
7. September 29, 2021 at 8:13 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   China electricity shortage: industrial production grinds to halt and traffic lights fail amid rationing
   https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3150315/china-electricity-shortage-industrial-production-grinds-halt?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=share_widget&utm_campaign=3150315

   Half of China’s provincial jurisdictions mandate rationing of electricity, but poor communication and unclear timeline leave angry public in the dark
   One local government warns that entire power grid at risk of collapse if electricity is not rationed

   China is in the midst of a power supply crisis that has turned critical in recent days – threatening entire power grids and prompting analysts to slash economic growth forecasts for the year.
   In the past month, 16 out of 31 provincial jurisdictions – from industrial powerhouses in the south such as Guangdong to the rust belt in the northeast – have rolled out electricity-rationing measures, triggering widespread alarm among much of the population and plunging the nation’s industrial sector into chaos.

   Reply
8. September 30, 2021 at 6:41 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Chip Industry May See Overcapacity in 2023
   https://uk.pcmag.com/graphics-cards/135763/chip-industry-may-see-overcapacity-in-2023

   ‘The industry will see normalization and balance by the middle of 2022, with a potential for overcapacity in 2023,’ says IDC, though the big question is which sectors will be most affected.

   The great chip shortage could eventually morph into a chip-making oversupply problem by 2023, according to IDC, which expects the supply chain to return to normal in mid-2022.

   “The industry will see normalization and balance by the middle of 2022, with a potential for overcapacity in 2023 as larger scale capacity expansions begin to come online towards the end of 2022,” the research firm predicts.

   Semiconductor Market to Grow By 17.3% in 2021 and Reach Potential Overcapacity by 2023, IDC Reports
   https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prAP48247621

   SINGAPORE, September 20th, 2021 – IDC expects the semiconductor market to grow by 17.3% in 2021 versus 10.8% in 2020. According to IDC, the industry will see normalization and balance by the middle of 2022, with a potential for overcapacity in 2023 as larger scale capacity expansions begin to come online towards the end of 2022.

   Growth is driven by mobile phones, notebooks, servers, automotive, smart home, gaming, wearables, and Wi-Fi access points, with increased memory pricing. IC shortages are also expected to continue easing through 4Q21 as capacity additions accelerate.

   Despite the current Covid-19 wave, consumption remains healthy. IDC reports that dedicated foundries have been allocated for the rest of the year, with capacity utilization at nearly 100%. Front-end capacity remains tight but fabless suppliers are getting the production they need from their foundry partner. Front-end manufacturing is starting to meet demand in 3Q, however, larger issues and shortages will remain in back-end manufacturing and materials.

   According to IDC, 5G semiconductor revenues will increase by 128%, with total mobile phone semiconductors expected to grow by 28.5%. Game consoles, smart home, and wearables will grow +34%, 20%, 21% respectively. Automotive semiconductor revenues will also increase by 22.8% as shortages are mitigated by year end. Notebook semiconductor revenues will grow by 11.8%, while X86 Server semi revenues will increase by 24.6%.

   Reply
9. September 30, 2021 at 9:06 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   U.S. Pushes Companies for More Transparency on Chip Supply Chains
   Sept. 29, 2021
   https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/embedded-revolution/article/21176508/electronic-design-us-pushes-companies-for-more-transparency-on-chip-supply-chains?utm_source=EG%20ED%20Analog%20%26%20Power%20Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS210920034&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

   U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo met with auto giants (GM, Ford, and Stellantis), technology firms (Apple and Microsoft), chip makers (Intel and Micron), and foundries (Globalfoundries, TSMC, and Samsung) to discuss the chip shortage.

   The White House is prodding major auto manufacturers and chip vendors to share information about the global chip shortage in a bid to bring more transparency to a supply chain that has been strained for more than a year.

   U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and National Economic Council head Brian Deese met with major automakers, chip vendors, and other companies last Thursday to discuss the chip shortage and short- and long-term actions available to them to strengthen U.S. supply chains. The White House said the Biden administration called on industry players to take “the lead in resolving the supply chain bottlenecks that are occurring due to the global chip shortage.”

   The companies included automakers (the U.S. Big Three—GM, Ford, and Stellantis), technology giants (Apple and Microsoft), leading U.S. chip vendors (Intel and Micron); and foundries (TSMC, Samsung, and Globalfoundries).

   Reply
10. September 30, 2021 at 10:23 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    IC Shortage Keeps Linux Out Of Phone Charger, For Now
    https://hackaday.com/2021/09/29/ic-shortage-keeps-linux-out-of-phone-charger-for-now/

    We’ve been eagerly following the development of the WiFiWart for some time now, as a quad-core Cortex-A7 USB phone charger with dual WiFi interfaces that runs OpenWrt sounds exactly like the sort of thing we need in our lives. Unfortunately, we’ve just heard from [Walker] that progress on the project has been slowed down indefinitely by crippling chip shortages.

    I’m not putting a WiFi router into a phone charger (Part 3)
    https://machinehum.medium.com/im-not-putting-a-wifi-router-into-a-phone-charger-7b36e90ee08d

    Reply
11. October 2, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Useita tehtaita on suljettu Kiinassa sähköpulan vuoksi samalla kun kuparipula nostaa komponenttihintoja
    30.9.2021 – 22:16 Petrus Laine Tietotekniikka 10
    Kiina on sulkenut useita hiilivoimaloita sekä hiilipulan että tiukempien päästöstandardien vuoksi. Kuparin ja erityisesti emolevyjen ja näytönohjainten käyttämien kuparifolioiden hinnat ovat puolestaan nousseet uusiin huippuihinsa.
    https://www.io-tech.fi/uutinen/useita-tehtaita-on-suljettu-kiinassa-sahkopulan-vuoksi-samalla-kun-kuparipula-nostaa-komponenttihintoja/

    Reply
12. October 2, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Apple, Intel, and Nvidia Suppliers Halt Production in China Due to Mandated Power Shutdowns
    By Anton Shilov 5 days ago
    Some manufacturing facilities will keep operating.
    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/power-outages-in-china-could-affect-apple-intel-nvidia

    Reply
13. October 4, 2021 at 8:44 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Bloomberg:
    A shortage of silicon metal, sparked by China cutting output, has sent prices up 300% in less than two months, impacting production of chips, glass, and more — – Silicon metal output disrupted amid electricity curbs in China — Chemicals firms declare force majeure on silicone products

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-01/silicon-s-300-surge-throws-another-price-shock-at-the-world

    Reply
14. October 4, 2021 at 8:44 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Chris Metinko / Crunchbase News:
    Analysis: global VC funding for semiconductor startups has reached $3.7B in 2021 so far, up from 2020′s record of $3.4B, with US-based startups raising ~$1.7B — Editor’s note: This is Mergers & Money, a monthly column by Senior Reporter Chris Metinko that covers dealmaking in the enterprise tech space.

    Mergers & Money: Investments In Chips Hit Record Level As Tech Giants Look To Design Their Own
    https://news.crunchbase.com/news/mergers-money-investments-in-chips-hit-record-level-as-tech-giants-look-to-design-their-own/

    Reply
15. October 4, 2021 at 8:53 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Charlie Campbell / TIME:
    TSMC chairman Mark Liu on US-China tensions, the push for semiconductor localization in the US, which he says will not improve supply chain resilience, and more

    Inside the Taiwan Firm That Makes the World’s Tech Run
    https://time.com/6102879/semiconductor-chip-shortage-tsmc/

    On the northwest coast of Taiwan, nestled between mudflats teeming with fiddler crabs and sweet-scented persimmon orchards, sits the world’s most important company that you’ve probably never heard of. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of the semiconductor chips—otherwise known as integrated circuits, or just chips—that power our phones, laptops, cars, watches, refrigerators and more. Its clients include Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, AMD and Nvidia.

    Inside its boxy off-white headquarters in sleepy Hsinchu County, technicians in brightly hued protective suits—white and blue for employees, green for contractors and pink for pregnant women—push polished metal carts under a sallow protective light.

    “We always say that it’s like building a high-rise,” one TSMC section manager tells TIME, pointing to how his technicians diligently follow instructions dictated to them via tablet. “You can only build one story at a time.”

    The $550 billion firm today controls more than half the global market for made-to-order chips and has an even tighter stranglehold on the most advanced processors, with more than 90% of market share by some estimates.

    “TSMC is just absolutely critical,” says Peter Hanbury, a semiconductor specialist at the Bain & Co. consulting firm. “They basically control the most complicated part of the semiconductor ecosystem, and they’re a near monopoly at the bleeding edge.”

    The importance of semiconductor chips has grown exponentially over the past half century. In 1969, the Apollo lunar module sent tens of thousands of transistors with a combined weight of 70 lb. to the moon; today, an Apple MacBook crams 16 billion transistors within its total weight of just 3 lb. The prevalence of chips will keep rising alongside the spread of mobile devices, the Internet of things (IOT), 5G and 6G networks and a growth in demand for computing power. Global chip sales were $440 billion in 2020 and are projected to grow over 5% annually. President Joe Biden calls them “critical products” whose “supply-chain disruptions can put Americans’ lives and livelihoods at risk,” while the governments of Japan and South Korea compare the importance of semiconductors to “rice.”

    TSMC’s success in cornering this vital market has become a geostrategic migraine. The Pentagon is pressing the Biden Administration to invest more in advanced chipmaking, so its missiles and fighter jets are not dependent on a self-ruling island that China’s strongman President Xi Jinping believes is a breakaway province and has repeatedly threatened to invade.

    More immediately, a global chip shortage has impacted a staggering 169 industries, according to Goldman Sachs analysis, from steel and ready-mix concrete to air-conditioning units and breweries. Most drastically, automakers across America, Japan and Europe were forced to slow and even halt production, meaning 3.9 million fewer cars will roll into world showrooms this year than last.

    Car companies “immediately pointed the finger at TSMC” for the shortage, TSMC chairman Mark Liu tells TIME in an exclusive interview. “But I told them, ‘You are my customer’s customer’s customer. How could I [prioritize others] and not give you chips?’”

    The scarcity of chips has thrust TSMC from a largely anonymous services company to the center of a global tussle over the future of technology

    The semiconductor-chip shortage first got boardrooms sweating around February, when average order-to-delivery times for chips stretched to an unprecedented 15 weeks because of a confluence of factors: a pandemic-induced economic slump prompted carmakers to prematurely slash chip orders, which soon rebounded as chips were hoarded by firms that feared being embroiled in the U.S.-China trade and technology war. Amid what was described as a global chip shortage, more chips were being sent to factories than were leaving them in products, meaning “there are people definitely accumulating chips who-knows-where in the supply chain,” says Liu.

    To fix things, Liu ordered his team to triangulate different data points to decipher which customers were truly in need and which were stockpiling. “We are learning too, because we didn’t have to do this before,” says Liu. It forced him into tough decisions to delay orders for valued clients whose immediate need was judged to be less acute. “Sometimes [customers] may not be satisfied, but we just have to do what’s best for the industry.”

    The crisis sharpened focus on access to technology that the U.S. invented and still designs better than anyone else but doesn’t manufacture at scale anymore. Biden’s $2 trillion plan to fix American infrastructure included $50 billion to boost semiconductor competitiveness. That was on top of $52 billion committed under the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which was passed by the Senate in June and is aimed squarely at competing with China in all areas of technology. Yet TSMC alone is investing $100 billion in new capacity over the next three years. It’s a staggering sum, though for Liu, “the more I look at it, it’s not going to be enough.”

    The semiconductor industry has contracted even as the chips themselves have grown more prevalent and pivotal. Other than TSMC, the only firm capable of commercially producing today’s most advanced 5-nanometer (nm) chips is South Korea’s Samsung Electronics. However, TSMC is building a new fabrication plant—or “fab”—across 22 football fields of land in southern Taiwan to produce groundbreaking 3-nm chips, expected to be up to 15% faster and use far less power.

    The “fabless” trend was foreseen by a canny Chinese-born engineer named Morris Chang, who founded TSMC in 1987 after studying at Harvard, Stanford and MIT and working for 25 years at Texas Instruments. Among his many breakthroughs, Chang pioneered the tactic of initially pricing chips at a loss, in the expectation that gaining an early market share would increase scale to the point when reduced costs would generate a profit. As the technology advanced, the cost of new fabs soared, pushing more chipmakers to outsource and TSMC’s market share to increase. “It was doing work that nobody else wanted to do,” says Willy Shih, a professor at Harvard Business School.

    In June 2018, at the age of 86, Chang finally handed over the reins of TSMC to Liu and CEO C.C. Wei.

    TSMC’s more recent run of success has been linked to one client in particular: Apple. The Cupertino behemoth outsourced the manufacturing of its chips to Samsung for the first six generations of iPhones. But after Samsung launched its own competing Galaxy smartphones, Apple in 2011 brought a lawsuit over IP theft, which was ultimately settled with an award of $539 million to the American firm. That dispute was a boon to TSMC as Apple sought to extricate its supply chains from Samsung and avoid any partnerships that could burnish a potential rival. It was reassuring that TSMC was a dedicated foundry business that wouldn’t stray from its lane. Apple remains TSMC’s biggest client today. “It is a trust business,” says Liu. “We do not compete with our customers.”

    Apple was also pivotal to TSMC’s emergence as undisputed technology leader. Computing has been long governed by Moore’s Law, named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, which is better described as an “observation” that processing power doubles every two or so years. The tendency of the industry was to prioritize a new semiconductor node to fit that time frame.

    However, Apple insisted that it wanted a new node for each iteration of iPhone. Because Apple prides itself on never missing a launch of its crown jewel, TSMC was under enormous pressure to come up with constant advances.

    TSMC’s dominance is such that its chief rivals are not companies but governments. The auto-industry shortage was a wake-up call for policymakers already reeling from the pandemic and trade war. The European Commission has unveiled a public-private semiconductor alliance aimed at increasing its share of global production to 20% by 2030. South Korea’s government is offering incentives to drive a $450 billion investment by chipmakers through 2030.

    China, meanwhile, has been throwing billions at the semiconductor problem, with limited success and some eye-catching failures. Although it will likely soon become the biggest producer of chips by volume, they are not of the latest design. Its top firm is Shanghai-based SMIC, but despite $300 million in government grants in 2019, the best chip it can produce is about five years behind TSMC’s, with little hope of catching up. Meanwhile, at least six multibillion-dollar Chinese chip firms have gone bust over the past two years, including Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which turned out to be a $20 billion scam perpetrated by tricksters with no industry experience.

    Beijing’s efforts to catch up have also been hampered by Washington’s repeatedly blocking its attempts to buy foreign chip firms outright, as well as the specialized equipment needed for cutting-edge fabs.

    The situation also presents a quandary to Taiwan and the U.S. While American firms account for 65% of all TSMC sales, China is the biggest end destination by virtue of its role as the world’s factory, importing around $350 billion worth of chips in 2020 alone. Boston Consulting Group estimates that “decoupling” the U.S. and Chinese tech sectors would trim U.S. chip-company revenues by $80 billion, while competition with Beijing would cost those same firms $10 billion to $15 billion.

    If TSMC is caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between Washington and Beijing, then so too is the island on which it sits—with far more dangerous potential consequences.

    Strategists say Taiwan is protected by an effective “silicon shield,” given what the disruption to chip supply chains in the event of an invasion would mean for China’s economy. However, as tensions and the importance of chips rise in tandem, some analysts are reassessing this viewpoint.

    Despite America’s dominance of chip design, its lack of manufacturing capability remains worrisome for policymakers, who are trying to bring more fabs onshore. While remaining a TSMC customer, Intel is revamping its foundry business, building two new fabs in Arizona at a cost of $20 billion. Last year, TSMC committed to building a $12 billion fab, also in the Grand Canyon State. It is also exploring more plants in mainland China, Japan and Europe.

    Reply
16. October 5, 2021 at 12:06 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 29.7% Year-to-Year, 3.3% Month-to-Month in August
    https://www.semiconductors.org/global-semiconductor-sales-increase-29-7-year-to-year-3-3-month-to-month-in-august/

    The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced global semiconductor industry sales were $47.2 billion in the month of August 2021, an increase of 29.7% over the August 2020 total of $36.4 billion and 3.3% more than the July 2021 total of $45.7 billion. Monthly sales are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. SIA represents 98% of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue and nearly two-thirds of non-U.S. chip firms.

    “Global semiconductor sales remained strong in August, increasing year-to-year across all regional markets and major product categories,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Chip shipments have reached record totals in recent months as the industry ramps up production to address continuing high demand.”

    Reply
17. October 5, 2021 at 1:08 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://hackaday.com/2021/10/04/this-audio-mixer-is-a-eurorack/

    Reply
18. October 6, 2021 at 7:35 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    DRAM-moduulit yhden valmistajan hallussa
    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/12659-dram-moduulit-yhden-valmistajan-hallussa

    Jos avaat läppärisi kotelon, löydät suurella todennäköisyydellä sen ala Kingstonin valmistaman DRAM-moduulin. Muistikammoissa Kingstonin markkinaosuus on Trendforcen mukaan 78 prosenttia.

    Tässä ei toki ole mitään uutta. Viime vuonna Kingstonin hallussa oli 80,3 prosenttia markkinoista. Kuvaavaa on, että toiseksi suurin DIMM-valmistaja on ADATA Technology ja sekin joutuu tyytymään reiluun kolmeen prosenttiin 16,9 miljardin dollarin markkinoista.

    Reply
19. October 6, 2021 at 7:52 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    MOSFET – The Most significant invention of the 20th Century
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHwl8TdEI6k

    What makes a truly world-changing invention?. Of all the inventions of the 20th century just one could be said to have changed the world in such a way that it touches virtually everybody on the planet’s lives on a daily basis. It has enabled the most rapid development in technology in history and yet you cant see the vast majority of them directly and their individual job is just to switch on and off. This is the story of the MOSFET and how it changed the world.

    Reply
20. October 7, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Stephen Shankland / CNET:
    Samsung says its 3nm chips with gate-all-around transistor tech are delayed until 2022, and its 2nm chips will arrive in 2025 — The company’s 3-nanometer manufacturing technology is late, but Samsung also announced that its more advanced 2nm successor will arrive in 2025.

    Samsung delays next-gen chip technology until 2022
    https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/samsung-delays-next-gen-chip-technology-until-2022/

    The company’s 3-nanometer manufacturing technology is late, but Samsung also announced that its more advanced 2nm successor will arrive in 2025.

    Reply
21. October 7, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    BBC:NEW
    Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger says it is not considering the UK for its upcoming chip factories due to Brexit; the company is investing $95B to open European plants — The boss of Intel says the US chipmaker is no longer considering building a factory in the UK because of Brexit.

    Intel not considering UK chip factory after Brexit
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58820599

    Reply
22. October 8, 2021 at 9:53 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Northeast England’s Semiconductor Nightmare
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE0DEOictVg

    Let’s do something different this time. For this video, I am going to shift focus from Asia to talk about the United Kingdom.

    Reply
23. October 8, 2021 at 10:20 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    PCIe6-standardi on teknisesti valmis
    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/12672-pcie6-standardi-on-teknisesti-valmis

    PCI-SIG -järjestö on ilmoittanut, että tulevan PCIe 6.0 -standardin versio 0.9 on saatu valmiiksi. Kyse on ns. lopullisesta draftista eli tekniikka ei enää muutu ennen lopullista 1.0-määritystä. Lopullisen draftin mukaan liitännän nopeus kasvaa PCIe5:n 32 gigasiirrosta (gigatransfers per second) 64 gigasiirtoon eli kaksinkertaiseksi. X12-liitännän yli voidaan PCIe6-laitteissa siirtää dataa 128 gigatavua sekunnissa.

    Standardin 0.9-version myötä yritykset voisivat periaatteessa tuoda markkinoille ”PCIe6-valmiita” laitteita. Tälle ei kuitenkaan ole kovin isoa kiirettä, sillä edeltävä PCIe5 on sekin vasta alkanut näkyä kaupallisissa laitteissa.

    Esimerkiksi kuluttajien läppäreihin PCIe5 ei ole vielä ehtinyt, eikä ehdikään ennen kuin Intel ja AMD julkistavat omat PCIe5-tekniikkaan tukevat prosessorinsa.

    Reply
24. October 8, 2021 at 3:47 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    TSMC: Osa valmistajista valittaa piiripulasta vaikka istuu suurten varastojen päällä
    https://www.io-tech.fi/uutinen/tsmc-osa-valmistajista-valittaa-piiripulasta-vaikka-istuu-suurten-varastojen-paalla/

    TSMC kertoo priorisoineensa tuotantoa asiakkaille, jotka sen tutkimusten perusteella kärsivät oikeasti piiripulasta.

    Piiripulasta syytetään pääosin riittämätöntä valmistuskapasiteettia ja sen myötä eritoten markkinaykköstä TSMC:tä. Nyt yhtiön hallituksen puheenjohtaja Mark Liu on vierittänyt ainakin osan syystä asiakkaittensa puolelle.

    Time-lehti on tehnyt artikkelin piiripulan keskiössä pyörivästä TSMC:stä ja haastatellut sen myötä muiden muassa Liuta. TSMC:n kerrotaan autovalmistajien valituksen jälkeen alkaneen tutkia, missä todelliset pullonkaulat piirien toimituksessa sijaitsevat. Autovalmistajat olivat Liuta lainaten yhtiön asiakkaiden asiakkaiden asiakkaita, joten yhtiö ei olisi edes voinut suoraan priorisoida valmistusta autovalmistajille.

    Osassa tapauksissa pula oli aito, mutta joukosta löytyi myös yrityksiä, jotka panttasivat omia piirejään varastossa, vaikka niistä oli markkinoilla pulaa.

    Reply
25. October 8, 2021 at 7:35 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Sony to join TSMC on new $7bn chip plant in Japan
    Toyota group parts maker Denso considers signing up
    https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Sony-to-join-TSMC-on-new-7bn-chip-plant-in-Japan

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker, and Sony Group are considering joint construction of a semiconductor factory in western Japan amid a global chip shortage, Nikkei has learned.

    The total investment in the project is estimated at 800 billion yen ($7 billion), with the Japanese government expected to provide up to half the amount.

    Japan’s top auto parts maker Denso is also looking to participate through such steps as setting up equipment at the site. The Toyota Motor group member seeks stable supplies of chips used in its auto parts.

    Sony may also take a minority stake in a new company that will manage the factory, which will be located in Kumamoto Prefecture, on land owned by Sony and in an area adjacent to the latter’s image sensor factory, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

    Reply
26. October 8, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Declares ‘AMD’s Lead Is Over’ After Alder Lake, Sapphire Rapids
    By Nathaniel Mott 3 days ago
    AMD’s days of gaining on Intel are over
    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-ceo-declares-end-amd-gaining-market-share

    Reply
27. October 13, 2021 at 1:46 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Bloomberg:
    Sources: Apple will likely cut its projected iPhone 13 production targets for 2021 by 10M units, due to shortage of Broadcom and Texas Instruments parts — Apple Inc. is likely to slash its projected iPhone 13 production targets for 2021 by as many as 10 million units because of prolonged chip shortages …
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-12/apple-poised-to-slash-iphone-production-goals-due-to-chip-crunch

    Reply
28. October 13, 2021 at 1:57 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Nikkei Asia:
    Sources: TSMC and Sony are planning a semiconductor factory in Japan, opening in 2024 and costing ~$7B, half of which will come from the Japanese government — Toyota group parts maker Denso considers signing up — TOKYO — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker …

    Sony to join TSMC on new $7bn chip plant in Japan
    Toyota group parts maker Denso considers signing up
    https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Sony-to-join-TSMC-on-new-7bn-chip-plant-in-Japan

    Reply
29. October 14, 2021 at 9:57 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Cadence Helps Add Another Dimension to Chip Designs with 3D Platform
    Oct. 12, 2021
    Cadence is trying to automate more aspects of the chip design process with Integrity 3D-IC, a suite of software tools it says can help engineers develop faster, less power-hungry chips using 3D packaging.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/embedded-revolution/article/21177538/electronic-design-cadence-helps-add-another-dimension-to-chip-designs-with-3d-platform?utm_source=EG%20ED%20Analog%20%26%20Power%20Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS211004017&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Cadence has rolled out a new set of software tools, called the Integrity 3D-IC platform, that it says can help engineers develop faster and less power-hungry chips based on 3D packaging technologies.

    Cadence is one of the world’s largest vendors of electronic design automation (EDA) software. Its software tools automate a large portion of the computations needed to build, configure, and connect the billions of transistors in chips today so engineers can save time and focus on more important aspects of the design. It works with the likes of Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, and many other major players in the semiconductor arena.

    But now it is trying to automate more aspects of the chip design process as more of its customers move from building monolithic chips to stacking smaller slabs of silicon called chiplets (or tiles) in 3D packages.

    Reply
30. October 14, 2021 at 12:33 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Kiina voisi rampauttaa maailman puolijohdetuotannon
    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/12696-kiina-voisi-rampauttaa-maailman-puolijohdetuotannon

    Moni luulee, että ilmastonmuutos on tämän hetken suurin kansainvälinen poliittinen kysymys. Suurin ja vakavin uhka lännelle on kuitenkin Taiwanin tilanne. Mikäli Kiina toteuttaisi uhkauksensa ja ottaisi Taiwanin hallintaansa, se käytännössä lamauttaisi läntisen puolijohdetuotannon useiksi vuosiksi.

    Viime aikoina jännitteet Taiwanin alueella ovat osoittaneet kiristymisen merkkejä. Kiinalaiset lentokoneet ovat rikkoneet maan ilmatilaa ja amerikkalaislaivat ovat partioineet alueella. Syy on lopulta yksinkertainen: Taiwanissa valmistetaan valtaosa maailman edistyneimmistä puolijohteista. Jos puhelimesi ei ole Samsung, sen prosessori on kotoisin Taiwanista TSMC:n tehtailta.

    Tutkimuslaitos IC Insightin tilasto kertoo tästä selvää kieltään. Alle 10 nanometrin piirien tuotannossa tehdään Taiwanissa 62,8 prosenttia. Loput 37,2 prosenttia tapahtuu Koreassa. Yhdysvalloissa, Japanissa, Euroopassa tai Kiinassa ei ole tehtaita, joissa voitaisiin tehdä 10 nanometrin tai sitä edistyneempiä piirejä.

    Taiwanissa on varsin vähän yritysten omaa puolijohdetuotantoa. 80 prosenttia jättikapasiteetista on sopimusvalmistusta. TSMC on selvästi suurin tuottaja, mutta maassa on muitakin foundryjä, kuten UMC, Powerchip ja Vanguard.

    Reply
31. October 15, 2021 at 6:04 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    TSMC to build wafer fab in Japan, mass production set to start in 2024
    https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffocustaiwan.tw%2Fbusiness%2F202110140018&h=AT2-PXd-QNJn7HXMdm_t_RaClAwQBSdm0bBTIQnqDIL6FCXuejBVSuzAcmd7ZTAZRtgb4IB-2mhDlLCBvWR9mZWyHJi-0x4Ta6EOqAucTea-iQ2tKSTNk4i9u7uk-R3wpQ

    Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, announced on Thursday that it will build a 12-inch wafer fab in Japan with mass production set to start in 2024.

    At an investor conference, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said construction of the wafer plant is scheduled to begin in 2022, and based on the chipmaker’s initial planning, the new factory will roll out specialty chips using the company’s mature processes for 22 nanometer and 28nm technologies.

    The chips rolled out based on the 22nm and 28nm processes are expected to be used in products ranging from imaging sensors to micro control units (MCU) for car production, market analysts said.

    Reply
32. October 15, 2021 at 5:32 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Another Microelectronics Crisis? The Automotive Chip Shortage and Supply Chains
    https://www.3dincites.com/2021/03/another-microelectronics-crisis-the-automotive-chip-shortage-and-supply-chains/

    My, what a fix the microelectronics industry has gotten itself into! Three crises happening all at the same time: One threatening the automotive industry, one our electronics supply chain, and the third the United States’ ability to remain competitive in the semiconductor space. There has been a bit written on these topics over the past few months, and hopefully, this reprise will be anything but boring. Unfortunately, the industry has created this mess over a long time period, and it will take a long time to sort it out. Sorting it out may also mean swallowing some bitter medicine, or higher costs if the United States plans on re-shoring the semiconductor industry that it off-shored in the 1990s.

    Automotive Chip Shortage
    Let’s start with the automotive chip shortage. I found a recent article in the Washington Post to be pretty amusing. Chip shortages don’t just happen unless there is a major earthquake in Taiwan, or a chip manufacturing plant burns down or loses power. None of this happened. Ok, we did lose power in Texas for two weeks, but the shortage was upon the industry before that.

    This problem is a major screw-up by the automotive manufactures. Chip factories allocate production based upon orders. Auto companies stopped ordering chips. If I’m a smart foundry manager and my 28nm automotive orders dry up, I’m reallocating that production to another technology. It takes around 40-60 days from start to finish for a 28nm chip to get through the factory.

    Reply
33. October 20, 2021 at 11:31 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Alibaba Unveils One of China’s Most Advanced Chips
    By Coco Liu and Debby Wu
    19. lokakuuta 2021 klo 5.11 UTC+3
    Cloud giants are increasingly designing their own silicon
    China is trying to foster self-sufficiency in semiconductors
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-19/alibaba-unveils-one-of-china-s-most-advanced-chips

    Reply
34. October 21, 2021 at 5:46 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Semiconductor shortages
    US pressures Samsung, chipmakers to disclose key internal data
    https://www.kedglobal.com/newsView/ked202109260001

    The move will likely put Samsung and TSMC in an unfavorable position versus US-based firms in price negotiations

    The American government is forcing global semiconductor manufacturers to submit internal information on their chip inventory as well as the number of orders and sales data in a move to tackle the ongoing global chip shortage.
    The US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Sept. 23 during the White House-hosted global semiconductor summit said that the government needs more information about the chip supply chain to increase the transparency of the crisis and identify the exact bottlenecks causing the shortage.

    “We have other tools in our tool box that require them to give us data. I hope we don’t get there. But if we have to we will,”

    Global foundry companies such as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) do not publicly disclose their client list. Samsung is reported to be making chips for Tesla Inc. but has not officially acknowledged the fact.

    “Disclosing yield information means disclosing a company’s specific level of semiconductor technology. Such information may put the foundry companies in an unfavorable position regarding price negotiations with global clients,” said an industry official.

    Other experts note that the information requested by the US government may also impact the overall market price of semiconductor chips. If a company’s level of chip inventory is revealed to be high, the price it supplies to the clients are likely to be cut after price negotiations.

    “It’s not impossible that the information submitted by Samsung and TSMC to the American government may be leaked to US-based companies such as Intel,” said a South Korean industry official.

    Intel and the US government have been explicit in strengthening their partnership recently.

    “Intel has been making arguments that the American government must provide more financial support to US-based firms by highlighting the impact of the global chip shortage on the American economy and the role that Intel can play in tackling the issue,” said an industry official.

    Reply
35. October 22, 2021 at 6:53 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Marvell Pushes to Get on Priority Line for TSMC’s 3-nm Process
    Oct. 14, 2021
    While the consumer electronics industry has long pushed to the front of the line at TSMC and other foundries for new technology nodes, Marvell is trying to get its server-class processors in the priority line.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/embedded-revolution/article/21178099/electronic-design-marvell-pushes-to-get-on-priority-line-for-tsmcs-3nm-process?utm_source=EG%20ED%20Auto%20Electronics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS211020016&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Marvell said it hopes to get an early jump on upgrading its server processors to TSMC’s 3-nm process.

    While the consumer electronics industry—and specifically Apple—has long pushed to the front of the line for new process technologies, Marvell has been working with TSMC to get its server-class chips into the priority line. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said it plans to start building more of its products out of chiplets (or tiles), using TSMC’s 5-nm node and its 2.5D chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology.

    Sandeep Bharathi, executive vice president of central system-on-chip engineering at Marvell, said it is poised to be the “lead vendor” to supply 3-nm chips for cloud data centers and 5G gear.

    TSMC plans to ramp production of smartphone chips and other devices on 3-nm in next year’s second half.

    Reply
36. October 23, 2021 at 2:50 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Intel slipped—and its future now depends on making everyone else’s chips
    Intel wants to be a foundry—again. Will this time be different?
    https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/10/intel-slipped-and-its-future-now-depends-on-making-everyone-elses-chips/

    Last month, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger stepped to a podium on a hazy, wind-whipped day just outside Phoenix. “Isn’t this awesome!” Gelsinger exclaimed, gesturing over his shoulder. Behind him, two large pieces of construction equipment posed theatrically atop the ocher Arizona soil, framing an organized tangle of pipes, steel, and fencing at the company’s Ocotillo campus. “If this doesn’t get you excited, check your pulse,” he said with a chuckle. A handful of executives and government officials applauded at the appropriate points.

    Despite the gathering dust storm, Gelsinger genuinely seemed to enjoy himself. He was in Arizona to announce not one but two new fabs that, when finished, will form a $20 billion bet that Intel can return to the leading edge of semiconductor manufacturing, one of the world’s most profitable, challenging, and cutthroat businesses.

    Reply
37. October 23, 2021 at 2:52 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Goodbye Transistor? New Optical Switches Offer up to 1,000x Better Performance
    By Francisco Pires 3 days ago
    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/goodbye-transistor-new-optical-switches-offer-up-to-1000x-better-performance

    ‘Optical Accelerators’ ditch electricity, favoring light as an exchange medium.

    Reply
38. October 26, 2021 at 9:10 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    GaN valtaa laturit sekä älypuhelimissa että läppäreissä
    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/12741-gan-valtaa-laturit-sekae-aelypuhelimissa-ettae-laeppaereissae

    Galliumnitrifi-tehokomponenttien toimitukset kasvavat tänä vuonna 73 prosenttia, ennustaa TrendForce. Markkina on silti edelleen varsin pieni, sillä GaN-komponentteja myydään 83 miljoonalla dollarilla. Kasvu tulee kuitenkin vain kiihtymään jatkossa.

    Tutkimuslaitoksen mukaan GaN-piirien markkinajohtajaksi on tänä vuonna nousemassa Navitas, joka tunnetaan GaNFast-piireillään. Niitä on käytetty esimerkiksi Lenovon, OPPOn ja Xiaomin älypuhelinten pikalatureissa. Tehokkain lienee toistaiseksi uuden Xiaomi 11T Pron laturi, jonka teho on nostettu jo 120 wattiin. Navitaksen markkinaosuus nousee tänä vuonna 29 prosenttiin.

    Reply
39. October 28, 2021 at 8:13 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
    EU opens an investigation into Nvidia’s planned Arm acquisition on competition grounds, the latest setback for the deal — Nvidia (NVDA.O) suffered a setback on Wednesday as EU antitrust regulators opened a full-scale investigation into its $54 billion bid for British chip designer ARM …

    Setback for Nvidia’s $54 bln ARM bid as EU regulators open probe
    https://www.reuters.com/technology/setback-nvidias-54-bln-arm-bid-eu-regulators-open-probe-2021-10-27/

    BRUSSELS, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Nvidia (NVDA.O) suffered a setback on Wednesday as EU antitrust regulators opened a full-scale investigation into its $54 billion bid for British chip designer ARM on concerns the deal could lead to higher prices, less choice and reduced innovation.

    Reply
40. October 29, 2021 at 7:59 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Briefing: Why Foundries Are Not the Only Culprits Behind Chip Deficit
    Oct. 18, 2021
    While foundries are investing aggressively to ease the global chip shortage, other factors are prolonging the supply woes, from tight supplies of raw materials to a lack of back-end packaging and test capacity.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/media-gallery/21177630/electronic-design-the-briefing-why-foundries-are-not-the-only-culprits-behind-chip-deficit?utm_source=EG%20ED%20Auto%20Electronics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS211013037&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Reply
41. October 29, 2021 at 10:04 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Intel’s Pat Gelsinger on ‘Super Moore’s Law,’ Making Multi-Billion Dollar Bets
    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intels-pat-gelsinger-on-super-moores-law-making-multi-billion-dollar-bets

    Reply
42. October 29, 2021 at 10:05 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-arm-european-commission-ninety-day-probe

    Reply
43. October 30, 2021 at 7:09 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Intel May Rename its 7nm Process Node to 5nm to Highlight Similarity w/ TSMC’s 5nm EUV Process
    https://www.hardwaretimes.com/intel-may-rename-its-7nm-process-node-to-5nm-to-highlight-similarity-w-tsmcs-5nm-euv-process/

    Reply
44. October 30, 2021 at 7:10 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    CPU benchmarks: Pre-release Intel Alder Lake chip beats Apple’s M1 Max
    Intel may soon reclaim supremacy in CPU speed benchmarks, where it has been overshadowed by Apple’s Arm-based chips for the past year.
    https://www.zdnet.com/article/cpu-benchmarks-pre-release-intel-alder-lake-chip-beats-apples-m1-max/

    Reply
45. October 30, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/23/decoupling-tech-supply-chains-would-do-more-harm-than-good/

    Reply
46. October 30, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    No end in sight for chip shortage as supply chain problems pile up
    “We’re not talking about quarters. We’re talking about years.”
    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/10/no-end-in-sight-for-chip-shortage-as-supply-chain-problems-pile-up/

    Reply
47. November 1, 2021 at 12:00 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Wall Street Journal:
    Experts say sourcing chips has almost turned into a lottery amid the global chip shortage, as wait times ballooned to 22 weeks in October — Nearly a year into the crisis, some customers are finding it is taking months more than expected to get needed parts

    Global Chip Shortage ‘Is Far From Over’ as Wait Times Get Longer
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-chip-shortage-is-far-from-over-as-wait-times-get-longer-11635413402?mod=djemalertNEWS

    Nearly a year into the crisis, some customers are finding it is taking months more than expected to get needed parts

    Almost a year into a global chip shortage, the problems are increasing for many customers as delays get even longer and sales are lost.

    Manuel Schoenfeld placed an order in May for transmission chips for the utility-monitoring devices made by his New York-based company PowerX. He was told the chips would arrive by summer, then fall, then winter and now doesn’t expect to get them until May 2022.

    “This is far from over,” Mr. Schoenfeld said.

    The global semiconductor shortage is worsening, with wait times lengthening, buyers hoarding products and the potential end looking less likely to materialize by next year. Demand didn’t moderate as expected. Supply routes got clogged. Unpredictable production hiccups slammed factories already running at full capacity.

    What’s left is widespread confusion for manufacturers and buyers alike. Some buyers trying to place new orders are getting delivery dates in 2024, said Ian Walker, operations director at electronic-components distributor Princeps Electronics Ltd., which helps companies find chips.

    “It really feels as if we are running out,” Mr. Walker said.

    The $464 billion semiconductor industry has been unable to keep pace, leading to lost revenue across the board. The pain is spreading beyond the initially affected—like car makers and home appliance manufacturers—to makers of other products, including medical equipment and smoking devices. The smartphone industry will grow by just 6% year-over-year, or half the initial forecast from earlier this year, because of chip woes, according to Counterpoint Research, which tracks handset shipments.

    Apple Inc. warned Thursday that supply-chain disruptions are hindering iPhone and other product manufacturing ahead of the holiday-shopping quarter, even as the company reported a record 12-month profit.

    Chip makers say the lack of supplies has caused them to lose sales. “Trust me, we would be shipping a lot more if we weren’t constrained by the supply chain of these other components in the industry,” Intel Corp. Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said last week on an earnings call. Mr. Gelsinger has said he expects shortages to last until 2023.

    Wait times for chip deliveries have continued to climb above a healthy threshold of 9-12 weeks. Over the summer, the wait stretched to 19 weeks on average, according to Susquehanna Financial Group. But as of October, it has ballooned to 22 weeks. It is longer for the scarcest parts: 25 weeks for power-management components and 38 weeks for the microcontrollers that the auto industry needs, the firm said.

    Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said he would have thought six months ago that chip shortages would start easing by this time. But now he said they will likely last until 2023. Wells Fargo Investment Institute recently revised down its U.S. GDP forecast to 6.3% from 7% as the chip shortage limited the supply of consumer goods.

    “This is playing out considerably longer than we initially thought,” Mr. Wren said.

    A supply bounceback this year relied on rosy assumptions that already maxed-out production wouldn’t face further setbacks. But the chip-making process is under duress from beginning to end.

    Basic building-block materials such as substrates are in short supply. Mishaps from bad weather and fires have interrupted wafer production. The final stage of manufacturing has been undercut by virus outbreaks and subsequent factory closures in Malaysia, which specializes in product packaging.

    Global shipping constraints have added to disruptions and delays. Chip assembly can require that parts travel up to 25,000 miles before becoming finished products, according to a report by Accenture and the Global Semiconductor Alliance.

    Sourcing chips has turned almost into a lottery, leading to over ordering that creates more supply strain, industry experts say.

    “People are buying a lot of parts to have just in case, and that’s exacerbating the shortage,” said Willy Shih, a professor of management at Harvard Business School, who specializes in semiconductors and supply chains.

    Stockpiling could also lead to an inflated sense of demand, analysts warned, which has raised concerns that an industrywide ramp-up in supply could lead to a chip glut. Major chip makers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. , Samsung Electronics Co. and Intel have announced ambitious investments to increase production, but such facilities cost billions of dollars and take years to become operational.

    The auto industry, hit hard and early by the chip shortage, has been the most vocal in calling for increasing supply.

    On Wednesday, General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. each reported steep drops in third-quarter profit as the computer-chip shortage dented factory output. Both companies said they see the semiconductor situation gradually easing next year.

    “Nobody expected it to get as challenging as it is right now,”

    “We’re not going to get ahead of this for quite a while.”

    Even companies considered to have well-established supply chains, such as Tesla Inc. have noted challenges in meeting customer demand, as a lack of critical components

    Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Babeau said that while the situation could improve in the first half of 2022, it was also possible that problems could persist until 2023.

    Royal Philips NV, which makes medical equipment, slashed its sales and profit growth outlook this year, as it suffered €150 million, the equivalent of $174 million, in missed sales in the third quarter

    At PowerX, the utility-monitoring devices company, the lack of components has eaten into the company’s profit margins and cost millions of dollars in unfulfilled device orders. The firm has paid up to five times usual prices to get smaller batches of supply. One manufacturer-promised shipment of 20,000 chips fell through, Mr. Schoenfeld said, because he was told the factory had burned down.

    PowerX said it has nearly six months of inventory stockpiled versus six weeks or so what a startup firm like his would have handy.

    “We are already concerned about what happens when our chips run out,” he added.

    Reply
48. November 2, 2021 at 1:53 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Nikkei Asia:
    Sources: Apple has cut back on iPad production to allocate more chips to the iPhone 13; iPad production was down 50% from original plans for the past two months — U.S. tech giant produces 50% fewer tablets than planned in September-October — TAIPEI — Apple has cut back sharply …

    Apple trims iPad production to feed chips to iPhone 13
    U.S. tech giant produces 50% fewer tablets than planned in September-October
    https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Apple-trims-iPad-production-to-feed-chips-to-iPhone-13

    Apple has cut back sharply on iPad production to allocate more components to the iPhone 13, multiple sources told Nikkei Asia, a sign the global chip supply crunch is hitting the company even harder than it previously indicated.

    Production of the iPad was down 50% from Apple’s original plans for the past two months, sources briefed on the matter said, adding that parts intended for older iPhones were also being moved to the iPhone 13.

    The iPad and iPhone models have a number of components in common, including both core and peripheral chips. This allows Apple to shift supplies between different devices in certain cases.

    Reply
49. November 2, 2021 at 1:56 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
    Chip shortage hits Apple at the worst possible time ahead of the holidays, and Meta and Apple are set to be smartwatch and mixed reality headset rivals in 2022

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-10-31/why-are-apple-aapl-iphone-13-watch-series-7-ipads-taking-so-long-to-arrive-kvfjgjkx

    Reply
50. November 4, 2021 at 9:39 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Viewing the Semiconductor Supply Chain Through the Distributor’s Eyes
    Nov. 2, 2021
    This interview addresses how the supply/demand imbalance has impacted companies and best practices to deal with the cyclical nature of the semiconductor supply chain—including avoiding the risk of counterfeit chips.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/industrial-automation/article/21180196/electronic-design-viewing-the-semiconductor-supply-chain-through-the-distributors-eyes?utm_source=EG%20ED%20Analog%20%26%20Power%20Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS211028056&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Reply