The trend of a global chip supply shortage caused the lead time of chip orders in February this year to be extended by 5 to 15 weeks compared with October last year, and even the delivery time of some chips was as long as 99 weeks . In addition, chip prices have also risen. According to data, the average price of some chips has risen by 15% or more in the past year.
Affected by the shortage of chip supply, the production and sales of Japanese products have declined. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the production of air conditioners and digital cameras in Japan decreased by 26% and 25% year-on-year compared with two years ago. Sony's chief financial officer and executive vice president Hiroki Totoki said the company could also have more product shortages in 2022.
At present, chip manufacturers mainly focus on the supply shortage of cutting-edge chips, and the production capacity of cutting-edge chips will increase by 13% in 2021. Nikkei Asia said that with the chip inventory accumulated by manufacturers and the increasing chip production capacity, the chip shortage problem may be alleviated to a certain extent, but the overall market situation of imbalanced supply and demand is still not optimistic.
1. The global chip supply is in short supply, and the delivery cycle is increased by 5 to 15 weeks
According to foreign media reports, due to the imbalance between supply and demand in the chip market, the US electronic component distributor Sourcengine said that compared with October last year, the lead time for chip orders in February this year increased by 5 to 15 weeks.
Among them, the average delivery cycle of power management chips increased by 9 weeks to 37 weeks; the average delivery cycle of 16-bit processor general-purpose products was 44 weeks, an increase of 15 weeks compared with October; the delivery cycle of some chips even reached 99 weeks.
Chip prices are also rising as the market is in short supply, with the average price of some chips rising by more than 15% in the past year, according to Gartner.
2. Chip shortages affect product output, and manufacturers focus on supplying cutting-edge chips
Nikkei Asia said that the interruption of chip supply has inhibited the production of related products in Japan. According to data from the Japanese government, Japan’s air conditioner production in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 730,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 26%. Camera production fell 25% year-on-year, and passenger vehicle production, which includes sedans, light buses, and other products, fell 16% year-on-year.
Japanese tech giant Sony halted orders for six mirrorless cameras in the last two months of 2021 due to a shortage of LCD chips, which saw segment sales drop 4% in the quarter in the October-December period. Toshihiroki said that in the first half of 2022, Sony's other products may also experience supply shortages.
In response to chip supply shortages, chipmakers are aggressively ramping up production capacity, with global wafer shipments increasing by 14% year on year in 2021. At present, chip manufacturers focus on solving the shortage of cutting-edge chips. According to data from the US consulting firm McKinsey, in 2021, the production capacity of chips using old technologies such as 40nm technology will increase by 4%, and the production capacity of chips using new technologies such as 28nm technology will increase by 13%. %.
The epidemic has exacerbated the shortage of chips, and supply chain manufacturers have accelerated production capacity
Affected by the epidemic, the global chip shortage problem has intensified. The delivery cycle of chip orders in February 2022 has been extended by 5 to 15 weeks compared with October last year, and chip prices have also risen. According to the Nikkei Asia report, affected by the shortage of chips, the sales of related products in Japan have declined to vary degrees. Among them, air conditioners and digital cameras have been greatly affected by the shortage of chips, and the output has declined by 25% year-on-year.
In order to cope with the shortage of chips, chip manufacturers stepped up efforts to increase production capacity and paid attention to filling the supply gap of cutting-edge chips. Last year, the production capacity of cutting-edge chips increased by 13%. ASML, which provides cutting-edge chip production equipment, is also focusing on supply chain construction and is expected to quickly ship 60 sets of cutting-edge chip production equipment this year. Whether the increase in chip production capacity this year can fill the supply gap is still unknown.
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