Shortage of Low-Cost Chips Continues to Plague the Supply Chain

Image via TSMC

31 AUGUST 2022 - Just when you were starting to feel better about how things were going in the supply chain, along come executives in the supply chain. Bloomberg (via Yahoo! News) ran sort of a depressing piece on Tuesday. It had C. C. Wei, CEO of TSMC, saying things are kind of messed up. According to the report:

The world’s largest contract chipmaker can no longer meet demand for low-end chips at legacy factories, and it is building new plants, Wei said, suggesting that even mature chips may cost more in the months ahead.

The exec indicated that the production of $50,000 cars is being held up by chips that cost 50-cents. While the chips themselves are in short supply, their need continues to grow. Quoting Bloomberg again:

Shortages are showing up as a result of automakers adding more features to cars and increasing the silicon used by 15% every year, while smartphones now require two to three times the number of power management chips they did five years ago, [according to the CEO].