Industries affected by a semiconductor shortage, from automakers to consumer electronics, might need to wait a little longer for components, as delays in filling orders continue to worsen.
Chip lead times, the gap between ordering a semiconductor and taking delivery, last month increased by seven days to 18 weeks from April, an indication that chipmakers’ struggles to keep up with demand are worsening, Susquehanna Financial Group said a report.
That gap, the longest wait time since the firm began tracking the data in 2017, is more than four weeks longer than the previous peak in 2018.
Photo: Bloomberg
Power management chips, semiconductors that regulate the flow of electricity in everything from industrial machinery to smartphones, are a primary reason for the overall increase.
Lead times for those chips hit 25.6 weeks, nearly two weeks longer than in April.
Still, the crunch is widespread.
“The broad-based nature of the shortages is highlighted by the data, as most key product categories (power management, discretes, analogs, passives) have seen LT [lead time] expansion,” Susquehanna analyst Chris Rolland wrote.
Investors watch lead times looking for clues about how demand is trending, but also as a sign that chip users might be panicking and ordering too much, which would mean the industry is headed for a glut.
That point has passed, Rolland said, adding that his concern is that there is not enough demand for the end devices that rely on the electronic components to support current ordering levels.
While overall lead times stretched for firms such as Broadcom Inc, NXP Semiconductors NV, STMicroelectronics NV and Texas Instruments Inc, some areas are beginning to catch up with demand.
Lead times for microcontrollers, small processors that direct functions in everything from vehicles to washing machines, decreased by more than one week, Rolland said.
Lead times for analog chips, devices that convert real-world phenomena such as touch and sound into electronic signals, increased, but at a slower pace than previously, Susquehanna data showed.
Optoelectronic components, including chips that help convert solar energy into electricity in solar panels, are increasingly difficult to find, the report said.
While most of the firms listed as struggling to keep up with orders count automakers as major customers, other areas have felt the pinch, too, with many electronics makers, including the biggest companies such as Apple Inc, unable to meet all of the demand for their products.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a