Author: Claire Anderson

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Having successfully kept the Covid-19 pandemic under control for over a year, Taiwan, the world's largest semiconductor producer, is seeing a sudden surge in infections, which may worsen the global chip shortage. Until early May, Taiwan had recorded zero cases of community transmission of coronavirus for eight months, but there has since been an exponential rise in cases threatening to trigger a lockdown. With only 1% of its population vaccinated and vaccine stocks fast depleting, Taiwan’s government now faces a health emergency, with the potential to disrupt the chip industry that dominates its economy and which is critical to an...

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Siemens is set to reinforce its digital marketplace strategy with the $700m acquisition of US supply chain software provider Supplyframe. The deal, which is a 10x multiple on Supplyframe's $70m in revenue is expected to close by the end of 2021. Neither Siemens nor Supplyframe have disclosed specific information on how the purchase price of $700m has been calculated and if competitors were involved. Siemens believes that using Supplyframe's marketplace intelligence and supply chain management solutions will help its customers cut costs, boost agility, and make more informed decisions. In the global electronics value chain, the agreement also brings 10...

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Taiwan is known for being one of the rainiest locations on the planet, thanks to its subtropical climate in the north and central areas, and tropical climate in the south. During the summer and autumn, typhoons are frequent, as are monsoons. However, last year was a different story. For the first time in 56 years, Taiwan saw no typhoons in 2020, and so far this year, rainfall has been 40 percent less than normal. Most of the country's reservoirs are now below 20% capacity, with water levels in some dipping below 10%. Among them is the Baoshan second reservoir, a...

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has warned that the global semiconductor shortage could last beyond 2021. According to recent reports the chipmaker expects the shortages to ease in the coming quarter. However, in a conference call with investors, Chief Executive C.C. Wei, predicted that the problem will continue until 2022. Meanwhile, TSMC Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang stated that the company plans to spend about US$30 billion in capacity expansions and upgrades in 2021, up from a previous estimate of US$28 million. TSMC will also spend $100 billion to increase capacity at its fabrication facilities, which are currently operating at "over...

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Japanese firm, Renesas Electronics, a major automotive semiconductor supplier, has warned that a fire at one of its factories could severely impact global semiconductor supplies and force a month-long halt in production. For car makers already tackling supply chain disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic and severe storms in Texas, the timing of the fire at the advanced chip plant could not be worse. “We are concerned that there will be a massive impact on chip supplies,” Hidetoshi Shibata, Renesas Chief Executive, said earlier this week. “We will pursue every means possible to minimise the impact.”  The fire started in...