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It is impossible get a PS5, your iPhone is delayed and no one has seen a graphics card in months. It seems like the electronic gadget you’re looking for in any way, you can’t find it. What is happening in the world? The short answer is the scarcity of chips from the ongoing pandemic to the geopolitical tension and, as always, the scarcity of the interplay between the factors of some cryptic nonsense.
The long answer … is complicated.
As usual, Covid is a noticeable problem
It’s easy to get carried away most days, but each of your devices — including the one you’re using to read this article — is made up of specially designed microprocessors that require more specialized manufacturing facilities. That was already a complicated process to maintain, but when the pandemic hit in early 2020, it threw the metaphorical key into the literal gears.
With the rise of working from home there was a growing need for more devices. Needless to say, webcams were sold out almost immediately because millions of people switched meetings to video chats and wanted something that looked better than laptop webcams. Similar pressures to buy new laptops, phones, tablets, headphones and dozens of other devices strain the supply of the microprocessor. At the same time, there is a demand for cars, which also have to integrate dozens of electronics.It fell in early 2020.
Factories that manufacture microprocessors don’t turn a dime. Since most chips require very precise manufacturing processes, it can take weeks or months for the workflow to begin to meet certain demand. It takes time for a factory that until recently produced massive touch screen displays to focus iPad screens on new iPads.
Simply put, it is difficult to keep up with the demand for electronics even in a normal year, and 2020 was the farthest from normal. The pandemic is not over either. Until recently, Taiwan was largely without a Covid case, but a sudden exponential rise, according to a Taiwanese representative, could eventually lead to “logistical problems”If the country does not get access to more vaccines.
Taiwan manufacturing accounts for more than 60% of the world’s semiconductor revenues. In other words, most of the processors used in electronics around the world come from Taiwan. Along with the increased demand for certain devices, with what kind of devices consumers need with a sudden sharp change and increased pressure to continue operating in a pandemic, shortcomings would occur.
Maybe even more predictable, semiconductor prices have begun to rise to comply with that request. In addition to making it difficult to get enough devices, it will soon become more expensive. This is exacerbated next problem.
International Trade Relations are causing more headaches
Deconstructing the complex nature of international trade disputes is little more than the scope of a single explanatory article, but what we can say for sure is that it is not the problem of higher demand that complicates processors. Having the majority of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing based on a single continent has never been ideal for other countries. And especially the US hasn’t always played nice.
In late 2020, shortly before he left office, President Donald Trump put restrictions About the Chinese manufacturer SMIC. This led, at least in one case, to a manufacturer manufacturing the microprocessor in Taiwan, which it did alone Taiwanese manufacturers have even more overload. In a way, the move was an extension of the Trump administration’s clash with Huawei, which in turn was an extension of the United States. the relationship is much more complicated with China’s position in the global economy.
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