Now tech f irms rip apart new washing machines for their computer chips

TECH firms are buying up new washing machines so they can harvest their computer parts in a desperate bid to beat the global microchip shortage.

Once solely used in PCs and mobile phones, semiconductors are now vital in cars, kitchen appliances, TVs, smart speakers, thermostats, smart light bulbs and even some dog collars.

Microchip manufacturers are unable to meet the ever-growing demand – accelerated by families buying more computers and gadgets during lockdown – as it takes two years and billions of pounds to build each factory.

Severe shortages have hit production at multinational firms, from car giants such as Tesla and Ford to appliance firms such as Bosch and Hotpoint and video games console makers Sony and Microsoft.

Hardest hit are car makers, which can end up with vehicles worth £100,000 or more stuck in factories because they cannot get hold of basic chips that two years ago cost just £1.

They are now having to resort to buying washing machines and cannibalising them for semiconductors rather than wait six months with such expensive goods stuck in a factory.

Modern washing machines can contain several chips which allow the operation of touchscreen displays, wi-fi connection, load weight sensors and fault detectors.

Stuart Miles, founder of technology website

‘It is good old scavenger tactics ... they had a Eureka moment’

Pocket-lint, said: ‘It is good old scavenger tactics. In this case, a company needs a part that is vital for its finished product, say a car, and they have to get creative getting it.

‘You can imagine the beleaguered procurement team whose struggles to get a sensor are holding up products worth tens of thousands.

‘They probably had a Eureka moment, but rather than being in the bath as Archimedes was, they were likely putting the dirty laundry in the washing machine, tapping away at its TV-style display to pick which cycle to use.

‘They rushed breathlessly into the next board meeting and proclaimed, “I have solved it. We are going to buy 10,000 washing machines and we can take the sensors out of them. What are we going to do with the leftover appliances? Let’s worry about that tomorrow”.’

The desperate tactics emerged last week when Dutch company ASML, which sells chipmaking machines to firms such as Intel and Samsung, reported its first quarter earnings.

Peter Wennink, the firm’s boss, told investors a major company had informed him it had resorted to buying washing machines and tearing out the chips inside them. He did not name the firm, but it is thought to be linked to the automotive industry.

‘The demand we are currently seeing comes from so many places in the industry,’ Mr Wennink said, pointing to the growth of the so-called Internet of Things where increasing numbers of products are connected to each other.

‘It’s so widespread. We have significantly underestimated the width of the demand. That, I don’t think, is going to go away,’ he added. At

present, there is a year-long wait for ASML’s machines that print circuits on to semiconductors. It has a near-monopoly of some of the more complex devices.

Chip shortages have particularly hit new car deliveries, with sales down on 2019 figures despite higher demand. Cars use 15 per cent of all chips made, with each vehicle needing around 3,000.

When the pandemic started, vehicle-makers cancelled chip orders as demand plummeted. Other gadget makers snapped up the spare production space for laptops, tablets, TVs and smart appliances. Vehicle makers are now struggling.

Chip shortages are expected to continue into next year or even 2024, with the market expected to double in value to £779billion by 2030, according to analysts.

Manufacturers are gearing up to meet demand.

Intel last month said it is investing £28billion in research and factories

in Europe. TSMC – the Taiwanese firm that has become the world’s biggest chipmaker by supplying firms such as Apple, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm – is investing $100billion £78billion over the next three years while rival manufacturer Samsung is going further, investing £150 billion.