PERFECT STORM
Among them in the increasing level of demand that existed as early as 2020; a further spike in demand caused by COVID-19's influence on increasing sales of electronics and other items; and a series of “black swan events” such as factory fires, winter storms, energy shortages, and the pandemic-related shutdowns, she said.While citing the industry view that chip supply chain constraints could last into the second half of this year, the DOC said it will capitalize on the latest information it obtained to engage the chip industry on node-specific problem-solving in the coming weeks.“We will also look into claims about unusually high prices in these nodes,” the department said in a statement.In late last year, Samsung and SK Hynix, the world’s two largest memory chipmakers, and their global peers submitted their key internal data except for sensitive ones to the DOC.The findings disclosed on Tuesday showed companies’ chip inventory fell to fewer than five days in 2021 from 40 days in 2019, although semiconductor fabrication lines were operating at over 90% utilization, an incredibly high level, it said.The DOC’s summary of its information showed that certain nodes of microcontrollers, analog chips and optoelectronic chips are particularly in an acute supply shortage. A silicon wafer is displayed at a Samsung Electronics show. Samsung and SK Hynix are largely making advanced, high-density chips, keeping the production of legacy analog chips to the minimum.Among the industries suffering the most was the automotive manufacturing sector, causing several automakers to intermittently shut down facilities due to the chip shortage, resulting in higher car prices.The US government’s move to look further into the global chipmakers come after major foundry players such as TSMC and Samsung last year raised chip prices by 30% amid rising demand from carmakers for use in their autonomous vehicles and electric cars.“Major chipmakers may face further requests from the DOC to submit internal data, including pricing information,” said an industry official.By Shin-Young Park and Byung-Uk Donyusos@hankyung.comIn-Soo Nam edited this article.2024-09-21 03:33:30