The US Department of Commerce on Tuesday said that a global survey of semiconductor chip producers and users shows a shortage will persist, sparked primarily by wafer production capacity constraints.
The voluntary survey of 150 companies last fall in the supply chain confirmed “there is a significant, persistent mismatch in supply and demand for chips, and respondents did not see the problem going away in the next six months.”
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told reporters that the department “in a few instances didn’t really get what we needed and we’re going to go company by company and do personal engagement and get what we need.”
Photo: AP
Raimondo said in November that she had spoken to “all of the CEOs in the supply chain — including Samsung, TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, 台積電], SK — and all of the CEOs have pledged to me that they will be submitting robust and complete data flows to us.”
Some companies in Asia and governments had earlier expressed concern about the data request.
Raimondo reiterated that the department could invoke its legal authority to get responses.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, responding to the survey, reiterated that Taiwanese companies are working hard to produce chips and coordinating with “important international business partners” to strengthen supply chains.
The US could compel foreign semiconductor firms with US operations to answer detailed questions about the chips market.
Raimondo on Tuesday declined to say who did or did not comply.
The department also said it was sharing its findings with foreign governments.
It said it had seen some unusually high prices among some chips used by automakers and medical device manufacturers.
The department said that it would “engage industry on node-specific problem solving in the coming weeks. We will also look into claims about unusually high prices in these nodes.”
“Demand for chips is high. It is getting higher,” Raimondo said, adding that demand is now about 20 percent above 2019 levels.
“There is not a lot of good news” in this survey, she said.
Raimondo said the survey did not show evidence of hoarding.
The department said median inventory for consumers for key chips has fallen from 40 days in 2019 to less than five days last year.
“Five days of inventory. No room for error,” Raimondo said. “That tells you how fragile this supply chain is.”
US President Joe Biden has been pressing the US Congress to approve more funds to boost chip production in the US as shortages of the key components used in autos and computers have exacerbated supply chain bottlenecks.
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled its legislation to bolster US research and development to better compete with China, and aid the domestic semiconductor industry, in a bid to negotiate a final bill this year with the US Senate.
“Major components of this package have already passed the House with overwhelmingly bipartisan votes, and we look forward to conferencing this bill with the Senate to get legislation to the president’s desk as soon as possible,” US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
The bill is a priority for Biden’s administration, particularly the nearly US$52 billion in grants and incentives for the semiconductor industry amid a global chip shortage.
The House bill includes the same US$52 billion in emergency appropriations to help the semiconductor industry that the Senate bill incorporated as part of the CHIPS for America Act.
In addition, it also authorizes US$45 billion for grants and loans to support supply chain resilience and manufacturing of critical goods in the US.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gains The global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that is affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior
People stand in a Pokemon store in Tokyo on Thursday. One of the world highest-grossing franchises is celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday.
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry. The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Zimbabwe already banned the export of lithium ore in 2022 and last year announced it would halt exports of lithium concentrates from January next year. However, on Wednesday it imposed the ban with immediate effect, leaving unclear what the lithium mining sector would do in the
RSS