Chip shortage to worsen amid global issues
The Lighthouse Club has helped dozens of young Cambodians go on to enjoy rewarding careers in construction – and it is looking to transform even more lives.
THE world is undergoing an unprecedented dearth of microchips needed for a wide spectrum of everyday gadgets from gaming consoles, smartphones, tablets and home appliances to TVs, as well as automobiles that are increasingly being electrified.
The current chip shortage appears to be the consequence of multiple global issues including the prolonging Sino-US trade dispute, Covid19 pandemic and natural disasters occurring in regions with large semiconductor production facilities.
Last week, nearly a hundred engineers at South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and its semiconductor contractors flew to Austin, Texas to support restarting the company’s chip factory in the US city, which suddenly stopped all of its operations from February 16 due to a power shortage.
A number of industrial factories, including the South Korean chipmaker as well as Netherlands’ NXP and Germany’s Infineon in Texas, have stopped operations in the wake of the power cut emergency triggered by a winter storm for the first time.
Samsung’s Austin factory raised 3.91 trillion won ($3.54 billion) in sales last year, churning out chips for US customers. The daily average sales are estimated to be around 10 billion won.
Since it is the first time for Samsung to shut down its chip factory completely due to the power outage, the Korean company had to dispatch its workforce to examine the impact on equipment and to restart the operation from scratch.
“It is an unprecedented event at any of Samsung’s chip plants,” said a Samsung official. “The company is in the process of dispatching engineers to help normalise the plant for smooth production of chips afterwards.”
Austin’s power company Austin Energy had initially notified Samsung of a threeday power outage, but the company has not yet been informed on power supply.
Considering that it takes several days to fully restart the semiconductor equipment, the Samsung plant could return to normal operations later this week.
Samsung’s daily losses could snowball to about 100 billion won if the plant is shuttered for 10 days.
The stoppage at major chip production facilities in the US state of Texas is expected to compound the current chip shortage problem in the automobile industry.
Since late last month, global automakers have curtailed or suspended production of a number of vehicles as they struggled to secure electronic
components needed for cars, such as sensors, microprocessors for infotainment and communications chips.
The automakers and auto parts suppliers have called on the chips industry to increase production of auto chips.
Last year, chipmakers expanded chip supplies for electronics manufacturers as demand for gadgets surged owing to the growth of contactless services like telemedicine and remote learning under the Covid-19 pandemic. Chip margins from electronic devices are higher than for auto parts.
Natural disasters are becoming a major factor worsening the global chip shortage.
Japan’s automotive chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp had to stop its production in Fukushima from February 13-16 due to the recent earthquake there.
The Japanese chipmaker is expected to resume production this week, but it would take more time to return to its full capacity, industry watchers say. Chip material suppliers there also suspended operations.
TaiwanSemiconductorManufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the
absolute leader in the global foundry market, is at risk of suffering a water shortage as authorities demand cutting the use of industrial water.
“Such water shortage concerns could affect production of integrated circuits and display panels,” a Taiwanese media organisation reported.
Some point out that the current chip shortage is also attributable to stockpiling by China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
Last year, before the US trade sanctions on Huawei took effect, the Chinese tech giant snapped up large volumes of chips from companies like Samsung and SK hynix Inc.
Neil Mawston, executive director at consultancy Strategy Analytics, said: “A perfect storm of coronavirus chaos, trade-war stockpiling, and a paradigm shift in work-fromhome devices is causing the chip squeeze.
“Anything with a chip is affected – cars, smartphones, games consoles, tablets and laptops. Electronic gadgets and cars will be in shorter supply or more expensive throughout 2021,” he said, according to a report by Agence France Presse.
The current supply shortage will lead to price increases, market observers say.
Market researcher TrendForce said in a report that the Texas power outage could prompt prices of NAND Flash and SSD controller ICs to rise as Samsung’s Austin plant has been producing the products on the 14-40 nanometre process node at Line S2. But Samsung was prepared for an emergency, the researcher noted.
The report said: “Despite the blackout’s relatively low impact on NAND Flash/SSD controller manufacturing, SSD purchasers, including the aforementioned PC OEMs and CSPs, may potentially accept a price hike during the negotiation process due to their urgency in procuring additional SSDs.”
IN ITS 11th year of providing charitable assistance in the construction sector, the Lighthouse Club Cambodia enjoyed a record fundraising event at Royal Cambodia Phnom Penh Golf Club on February 13.
More than 60 players took part in the 6th Annual Charity Golf Day, making this year the largest event so far, with the money raised set to support 10 students through a year of construction-related education, covering tuition and living costs.
Started in the UK in 1956, the Lighthouse Club charitable organisation has expanded to more than 30 branches across the world. The Phnom Penh branch was established in 2010 and now has more than 100 members.
Since its inception, the principal aims of the club have been to support less well-off young Cambodians through education, help injured construction workers and promote good fellowship and cooperation among its members, said Lighthouse co-chairman Kerr Thomson.
“The Lighthouse Club Cambodia has now financially supported more than 50 students who have either completed or are currently studying for their university degrees in construction-related subjects. All have gone on to gain employment within the construction industry. “We have also provided financial assistance to the families of a number of construction workers who have been badly injured on building sites. “The Lighthouse Club Cambodia’s funds come from events such as the Annual Golf Day and networking evenings. These also provide a great opportunity for members of the construction and related industries in Cambodia to further their business connections and contacts.
“The club would like to thank the many sponsors of this event, including Evermore – the main event sponsor – Chip Mong/Khmer Beverages, Hongkong Land, Knight Frank, COVA, Soksiphana and Associates, Coldwell Banker, CBRE and many more,” Thomson said.
Chhom Chhy, from Preah Vihear Province – who studied Electrical Engineering at the National Technical Training Institute (NTTI) – is one such young Cambodian now enjoying a rewarding career in construction thanks to Lighthouse Club Cambodia.
“I highly appreciate the support I received from the Lighthouse Club that helped me for the duration of my university studies, assisting me with the payment of my tuition fees and providing a monthly living allowance. Now I work at COVA Thinking as an electrical engineer.
“Without Lighthouse Club support I would not have been able to continue with my studies, and I would probably now be working on the farm in my homeland with my family.
“I hope that the Lighthouse Club will be able to continue supporting underprivileged students so they, like me, will have the opportunity to continue their university studies,” the 26 year-old said.
The Lighthouse Club Cambodia Annual Golf Day attracted players from many major entities in the Cambodian construction sector, such as Michael Freeman, vice-president contracting at innovative engineering solutions provider Comin Khmere, which sponsored the first hole.
“Comin Khmere has been in Cambodia for some 30 years, and we have sponsored the Lighthouse Club Golf Day every year since the first back in 2014.
“We have sponsored a variety of Lighthouse events, and we are happy to associate our brand with the type of work Lighthouse carries out in the sector – trying to improve industry standards, improve education and giving more young Cambodian people access to entering the construction industry as engineers and architects, for example.
“We place a big focus on supporting young people through education to enter the construction industry. We do a lot of internship programmes and work with all the training schools, so it is natural that we would support Lighthouse Club – plus I’m a keen golfer!
“We take on engineers sponsored by Lighthouse as it is part of the Comin ethos to bring more and more Cambodians into our organisation as the Kingdom develops,” Freeman said.
And Lighthouse events manager Brenden McNally said Lighthouse was eager to transform the lives of even more less well-off young Cambodians.
“All of our supported students have successfully completed their construction-related degrees, and all have gone on to gain employment within the construction industry.
“We currently have a number of former students working at international construction firms based in Cambodia. We have two who are presently working for COVA, the leading multi-disciplinary design engineering and quantity surveying and project management consultancy, for example.
“We are looking at also providing assistance for students who wish to study vocational courses as well as university degrees.
“And while we are pleased with what we have achieved in such a short time, we really want more people to take advantage of the educational support we provide.
“Contacting Lighthouse Club Cambodia will be the first step towards a rewarding career in construction,” McNally said.
Students interested in joining the Lighthouse Club Cambodia’s scholarship programme, or individuals or companies who would like to join Lighthouse and help develop the future of the Kingdom’s construction sector, should contact: admin@lighthouseclubcambodia.org.