2. Auto chip production capacity has been shifted

In 2018-20, global car sales fell and demand for automotive chips fell, forcing production and sales to shift to uses other than cars.

The antagonism between China and the United States has led to economic fluctuations. Since 2018, global new car sales have declined, and the demand for automotive chips has also begun to decline in 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020 further reduced the demand for automobiles and in-vehicle semiconductors, which was already on a downward trend.

On the other hand, the demand for remote support and the need for working and studying from home caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for electronic devices such as PCS, smart phones and tablets, as well as consumer products such as TVS and games.

As a result, chip makers are shifting production capacity from automotive chips to electronic devices and consumer products. As a result, in the second half of 2020, when the auto industry was trying to increase production, there was insufficient capacity for automotive chips to meet the demand of the auto industry.

3, a series of disasters caused production restrictions

After a fire broke out at Asahi Electronics' Yanoka plant in October 2020, it was initially thought that Renesas Electronics and Fujifilm Electric could avoid worsening the situation, but a fire also broke out at Renesas Electronics' subsidiary Nako plant in March 2021.

Meanwhile, the Austin plants of major chip makers such as NXP, Samsung and Infineon were forced to temporarily shut down due to power outages caused by a record cold snap.

A series of disasters turned deadly, leading to an unprecedented shortage of automotive chips.

In general, the current automotive chip is in a state of structural shortage, MCU and IGBT shortage is the most serious, the overall supply situation is still unstable.

However, the world's top chip makers have been trying to expand production capacity during a two-year shortage of automotive chips, but most of the capacity will not be opened until 2023, when automotive chips are expected to ease.