Chip Shortage

No....not those wonderful products that Posco helps produce..... The semi-conductor chips that are needed for modern vehicles.


Silicon feeds a $500 billion chip industry, according to a report by the BBC. The chips underpin a global tech economy worth an estimated $3 trillion, the report said. The raw materials for the semiconductor business often come from Japan and Mexico, with the chips made in Taiwan, China and some in the U.S.

The chip shortage is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased demand for the personal electronics such as cell phones and laptops that the chips are used in to the point where production could not keep pace with demand.

The automakers, who have experienced previous recessions, quickly canceled orders for parts with computer chips, thinking auto sales would nosedive because of the pandemic.

Sales of new cars did plummet initially, but quickly rebounded with pent-up demand and 0% financing offers. Also, dealers figured out how to sell vehicles online, offering home pickup and delivery.

So when the factories restarted, the stronger-than-expected demand for new vehicles outpaced production and has yet to catch up.

Automakers and suppliers that use chips contacted their chipmakers and put back their orders. By then, chip capacity was consumed by other businesses — phones, computers, video games — as people worked and schooled at home.

Global chip production is monopolized by a few global, Asia-Pacific suppliers.

Pretty much everyone’s lights went off at the same time. This means that there was no ability to build inventory of products and solutions when businesses were able to turn their lights back on. This created a significant bottleneck in all manufacturing processes.

The chip deficit was further complicated by a fire at plant owned by chipmaker Renesas Electronics in Japan.

I'm good here...

Yeah, I thought I was gonna have to go panic-buy some Doritos...whew!!

Why hasn't a US company seized on the opportunity to produce them?

ol'dad

I believe Intel is our only chip producer. At least the largest USA producer

There has been a labor shortage in the USA for several years now. Used to be called "Record Low Unemployment" !

It’s in the works but tooling a new plant plus the fact that a chip can take 6-8 months to make really throws a wrench in their efforts.

Do you know much about these chips? I do not. Why does the process take so long?

I saw a clip on 60 minutes last Sunday that I taped and need to rewatch.The chips start out being about the size of an old vinyl album and they must be cut to size when done. Pretty fascinating.I’ll check it out and update.

Remember when stuff could be made and operated just fine without a computer chip?

Might be easier to bring back the 1973 Chevy 1/2 and 3/4 ton 4X4.We’d probably have a points and condenser shortage then.

I didn’t get an answer on why it takes so long to make the chips but they are talking late 2022 or into 2023 before they will be caught up.

Might be easier to bring back the 1973 Chevy 1/2 and 3/4 ton 4X4.We’d probably have a points and condenser shortage then.[/quote]
And not have enough mechanics that know how to set them, it’d be a painful experience for some as I still forget to shut the switch off every now and then.

And not have enough mechanics that know how to set them, it’d be a painful experience for some as I still forget to shut the switch off every now and then. [/quote]
LOL

I see an ultra-high paying job in my future ... Lol

Here's a quick answer about the process itself.

https://youtu.be/bor0qLifjz4

Additionally, the equipment that is used to create the 'masks' that are used to etch the circuits onto the chips are made by a Dutch company ..ASML,,,,and they only produce about 12 machines a year. Each machine requires three Boeing 747's to ship it and obviously costs hundreds of millions each.

Each plant costs in the vicinity of 2-3 billion to build.

TSM is building two in AZ and Intel is spending 20 billion on upgrades and new plants, but it will take a few years before they are online.

Chips are grown not manufactured and there is only so much you can do to speed up the process, if you ever did the high school science experience of growing crystals you kind of get the process, but with computer chips it can take several weeks or even months and then there is always certain number that are not usable then they have to be processed

Interesting enough some of the rejected bad chips actually turn out valuable such as those for dual core or quad core computer processors which were originally discarded

Trans. moduale went out on the wifes 2012 ford focus last week and there is a backorder of 30,000
there are 2 other cars sitting in the lot that have been there for 2 months , same issue.

Dow Corning was starting in the business of manufacturing chips for electronics. Then all of a sudden, it stopped and shut it down. ????????

Interesting

Mad Scientist, that's the show I saw last week.

I think there will be more than chips as far as shortage by mid fall.....I hear about a 30% or so rise in prices for goods across the board and some foods seem short right now.....I never noticed those foods short before covid started.

The transmissions I use to rebuild shifted via a governor which was no bigger than a chicken drumstick. Can't say I ever had a bad one, once in awhile the plastic gear would!d be stripped.....2 dollar piece. Worked good for 50 years and they don't shift any better controlled by a computer.

It's not only auto chips being affected, it's affected smaller users like my self on my calling units. I now will order between 20 and 50 chips at once, my last order the vendor said not until 2023 ,,,,OUCH !!!

Been on the net the last week trying to find vendors with just a few, and they realize the need as well, so prices are way out of bounds to be making any profit on a product !!

How long can one take a cut before saying well it was a nice thing to do, before shutting down !!

I make these chips. It takes almost 2 months to complete the process of making all the layers needed. After that they have to be cut and mounted. For my company they are shipped over seas to have that done. We used to have 31 people in my area, and now we have 14. When I hired in, you had to take a test before the interview. 90% of people failed the test. Now there is no test and they hire any breathing mongoloid. Production continues to fall behind, and the hundreds of managers continue to blame the handful of remaining workers. We are now on mandatory OT. It's the worst I have seen it in over 20 years.

Let's go back to cars that don't need chips.

Agree 100% Animals Only! But then folks would have to go back to learning how to read a map and ask for directions; rather than using bluetooth for navigation.

Heck, I've owned toyota pickups all my life and I can't find one that is a standard transmission anymore. Dealers tell me that there is no demand cause folks don't know how to drive a standard anymore.

Doesn't help when China buys the largest chip manufacturing plants in the U.K. either.