Manufacturers’ stocks of semiconductors have fallen from 40 days’ worth in 2019 to five days in late 2021 according to a survey conducted by the US Department of Commerce.
The lack of stock, driven in part by the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors such as a monopoly on the chip manufacturing market, has seen demand soar despite growing shortages around the world, with a 17% higher demand in 2021 than 2019.
The department received responses from more than 150 sources, including from almost every major semiconductor producer and from companies including Samsung, the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and South-Korean semiconductor supplier SK Hynix.
The semiconductor crisis is a multi-faceted problem that can not be solved overnight, with Pat Gelsinger, chief executive, Intel, predicting that the supply crisis could stretch into 2023.
In a statement, the US Department of Commerce stressed: “We’re going to capitalise on this new information to engage industry on node-specific problem-solving in the coming weeks, and we will continue the Early Alert System to monitor and take action related to pandemic-related disruptions to the supply chain.
In addition, we are engaging with companies that did not respond to the RFI [request for information], and those companies whose responses were not as comprehensive as their peers, to ensure we have the most accurate picture of what is driving supply chain bottlenecks. We believe we will get the information we need. We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to increase transparency in the supply chain and ensure companies are not taking advantage of the shortage.”
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