Chipmakers rush to boost production to meet shortage
TAIPEI/SEOUL — Asian chipmakers are rushing to expand their production capacity to meet a global shortage that has been acutely felt by carmakers, but the firms warn that the supply gap may take many months to plug as they struggle to keep up with strong demand.
Automakers from General Motors to Stellantis and Honda Motor are shutting assembly lines due to the shortages, which in some cases have been exacerbated by the former U.S. administration’s sanctions against Chinese chip factories. Some firms have also furloughed staff.
Eight-inch chip manufacturing plants owned mostly by Asian firms, which tend to make older, less sophisticated chips, are particularly under strain primarily due to underinvestment in recent years. The majority of such factories are used to make auto chips.
Consumer demand in China, especially for cars, has snapped back unexpectedly quickly from the coronavirus crisis, and orders for products such as laptops and mobile phones in regions still struggling with pandemic restrictions, such as Europe and the United States, have also picked up.
The global concerns about the chip shortage were underscored at recent quarterly earnings calls held by companies from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) to South Korea’s SK Hynix.
“We are under great pressure now,” said Zhao Haijun, co-CEO of China’s top chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., which last week announced plans to expand capacity by 45,000 wafers per month at its 8-inch fabrication plant this year.