Shortage of Automotive Semiconductors

Characteristics of automotive semiconductor suppliers and structure of the supply chain

2021/03/31

Summary

  Recently, the automotive industry has been facing a shortage of semiconductors for automobiles. Due to the shortage of semiconductors, the industry is confronted with a situation where automobiles cannot be manufactured. This is due in large part to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but is it really the only factor? This report discusses the status of the semiconductor industry in relation to semiconductors for automotive applications.


  The factors causing the shortage of automotive semiconductors during the COVID-19 crisis appear to be a combination of several situations, including the following.

Impact of lockdowns related to automobiles in each country (supply chain factors in the automotive industry)

(1) Decline in demand for automobiles (decrease in sales)
(2) Temporary closure of plants (decrease in production)
(3) As a result, orders from OEMs to suppliers decreased (decline in the production of supplier products)
(4) Decrease in orders from suppliers to semiconductor component manufacturers

Impact of lockdowns in each country on consumer products (surge in demand for non-automotive products)

(1) Promotion of telework (increased sales of PC-related products)
(2) Stay-at-home demand (increased sales of entertainment products such as games)

Impact after resumption of economic activity (supply chain factors in the semiconductor industry)

(1) The rapid revival of China's auto industry
(2) Tightening of utilization rates at semiconductor manufacturing plants (extreme concentration is an issue)
(3) Structural issues in the semiconductor industry (fabless and foundry companies)

Impact of the suspension of operations at semiconductor manufacturing plants due to disasters


  This paper explores these factors in terms of the status and trends of manufacturers that provide semiconductors for automotive applications.

 

Related reports:
CES 2021 Round-up: Industry Leaders Still Stood Out at Digital CES (Jan. 2021)
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Automotive Industry (Nov. 2020)
The Future of Onboard Computers (Jul. 2020)
Automotive Semiconductors: High-performance Systems for ADAS and Autonomous Driving (Mar. 2020)
NVIDIA's GPU: Toyota widely adopting for the development of autonomous vehicles (May 2019)

 

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