A continuing deficit of cheap chips worth as little as 50 cents is holding up production in key segments of the supply chain, says Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s top executive, C. C. Wei.
The lack of commodity chips that cost dollars or even pennies can disrupt shipment of a $50,000 car or a $150 million lithography scanner.
By example, ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands is struggling to obtain $10 chips for its extreme ultraviolet lithography systems, or EUVs, Wei is reported to have said. TSMC has dozens of the machines, which are critical for packing more power onto smaller slivers of silicon.
Elsewhere, a 50-cent radio chip has been holding up the production of $50,000 cars, Wei told Bloomberg.
“When carmakers told me previously that they were short of semiconductors, I thought, ‘How come these guys couldn’t understand the importance of chips,'” said CC Wei, chief executive of TSMC, at an event in China, reports New Kerala. “But later, TSMC’s own equipment suppliers suffered delivery problems and told me it is also due to component and chip shortages.”
The market of semiconductor manufacturing tools is also huge and multifaceted. If TSMC cannot get an ASML extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography scanner or an Applied Materials deposition tool on time, its huge $20+ billion fab will stand idle. Ultimately, other suppliers of fab tools as well as TSMC’s customers will suffer, so supply chain management will get even more crucial tomorrow than it is today.
To avoid electronics supply-chain disruptions, you may also wish to consult an expert in electronics component supply. With more than three decades of supply-chain expertise, Astute Electronics is ideally placed to work with you on your daily component requirements.
For more help with looking at supply chain options, contact Astute Electronics
