Author: Claire Anderson

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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...

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Samsung, one of the world's largest makers of chips and consumer electronics, has issued another blunt warning to the electronics market amid the global shortage of semiconductor chips. According to recent reports, Samsung warns of a “serious imbalance” in the semiconductor industry, as shortages continue to cause disruption. The tech giant also hinted that the next Galaxy Note smartphone could be delayed until 2022, in order to streamline production lines. “There’s a serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector globally,” Samsung’s co-Chief Executive Officer, Koh Dong-jin, said during an annual shareholder meeting in Seoul. “Despite...

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Chip manufacturers in Taiwan, including TSMC, are buying water by the truckload for some of their foundries, as the island widens restrictions on water supply amid a drought that could worsen the global chip crunch. Taiwan, one of the world's biggest producers of chips, had promised to help the US, Germany and Japan by bridging the shortage of auto chips, but some auto chip makers have already been forced to reduce production. A key hub in the global technology supply chain for giants such as Apple Inc, Taiwan has started to further reduce water supply for factories in central and...

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Severe weather conditions in the US state of Texas over the last ten days have closed down chip manufacturing locations, including semiconductor production at three of the US’ main suppliers based in Austin: Infineon, NXP and Samsung Electronics. Those closures compound the current shortage in the supply of semiconductors to the automotive industry, which is affecting production. Texas is facing historically cold weather conditions, leading to blackouts across the state, cutting power to 4m people. Energy providers are focusing on securing supply to residential and healthcare customers, and have asked manufacturers to reduce or suspend output during the storm. Semiconductor...

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In recent weeks, car manufacturers around the world have been hit by a serious a serious shortage of semiconductors, prompting them to halt output, and putting the brakes on their post-pandemic recovery. The problem stems from the convergence of two key factors; the failure to forecast a sudden rebound in demand towards the end of 2020, coupled with the rise in sales of consumer electronic devices throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, such as tablets, laptops, 5G smartphones and gaming consoles. It also highlights the complexity of car companies’ supply chains, in which a single vehicle can require up to 30,000 parts....