The ongoing electronic component shortage is one of the biggest challenges global supply chains face today, with demand for many components, from chips to actives and passives, well and truly outstripping supply.
A lot has happened in the last month, with new research and analyst insights pointing to when demand might ease (hint: it won’t be this year).
Here’s your latest electronic component shortage update:
According to Susquehanna Financial Group, chip lead times hit an all-time high of 21-weeks in September. This is up from 20.2 weeks in August and 18 weeks in July. However, in a research note, Susquehanna analyst Chris Rolland said that while lead times for some chips got worse, lead times for others like power management chips saw relief.
Gartner predicts the global semiconductor shortage will persist through Q1 2022 but recover to normal levels by the second quarter of 2022. They rate the current shortage as moderate and the shortages of early 2021 as severe.
Analyst firm IDC predicts that the global chip shortage may well turn into an oversupply situation in 2023, sending prices diving. They say the industry will see normalisation by the middle of 2022, with a potential for overcapacity in 2023.
EU will legislate for chip sovereignty with the forthcoming “European Chips Act”. Bringing together the EU’s semiconductor research, design, and testing capabilities, so that EU countries can make demand meet supply as one nation. “Europe cannot and will not lag behind,” the EU said in a statement on the Chips Act.
In an interview with CNBC, Ford Europe chairman of the management board Gunnar Herrmann estimated the chip shortage could continue through to 2024. Herrmann also revealed a new company crisis in raw materials. “It’s not only semiconductors,” he says, “you find shortages or constraints all over the place.”
Tesla temporarily halted some output at its Shanghai factory for four days in August due to the chips shortage. Tesla also closed part of the production line for electronic control units (ECUs). This is a small but significant action that cost it millions in revenue.
Recently, the total estimated cost of the chips shortage to the car industry keeps rising. A new report from AlixPartners predicting a global cost of $210 billion. This is nearly double what their first report predicted in May ($110 billion).
As a result of the chips shortage, some manufacturers are turning to riskier supply channels. This is leaving themselves vulnerable to counterfeits. As ZDNet reports, this puts low-volume manufacturers whose supply chains are less established at risk.
If you are worried about counterfeits in your supply chain, read our Quality Assurance and Counterfeit Mitigation Statement in the downloads.
Struggling to find those hard to find and obsolete components? Contact Cyclops Electronics today. Call 01904 415 415, email sales@cyclops-electronics.com or visit our website https://www.cyclops-electronics.com/.
