Will chip shortages continue in 2022？

Chip shortages have been a scary thing in 2021. During the global chip shortage, the prices of electronic products have been rising frequently, and the global semiconductor industry has been affected, Will the chip shortage continue in 2022?

At present, due to the increasing demand in the fields of automobile and industrial control, the supply of power devices, semiconductor equipment and materials is still tight, and the delivery cycle is still prolonged. Looking forward to 2022, the global semiconductor industry will enter a more orderly growth, and the tightness of the industrial chain may be reduced, but there will still be a shortage of high-end chip products. The industry as a whole still maintains a high prosperity.

Global semiconductor sales growth in 2021 has been largely helped by the shortage crisis caused by convid-19. Under the repeated Convid-19, the "home economy" has been working from home, and the overall demand for remote teaching has increased steadily. At the same time, different countries have different epidemic prevention measures, and transportation and port congestion have lengthened the delivery period, providing strong support for price increases and shortages.

What will happen to the chip industry in 2022? Will the "chip shortage" continue, and what impact will it have on other industries?

1. Invest in expanding production, it is difficult to stop the lack of chips

Investment and expansion of production will be the main theme of chip manufacturers in 2022. If there is no accident, in order to solve the production capacity problem, many foundry companies will start plans to build new factories and expand the production capacity of existing factories. As shown in the figure, at present, no matter the major international manufacturers TSMC, UMC, GlobalFoundries, SK Hynix, or the local manufacturer SMIC has plans to expand production capacity, it is expected that the expanded production capacity will increase the existing production capacity by 25%. Amazing power.

The question is, will this solve the chip problem? the answer is negative. Ordinary consumers may think that there is only a lack of advanced process chips on the market. In fact, almost all types of chips in all walks of life are facing a shortage problem.

The root cause of this problem is that the fab capacity cannot keep up with the demand, especially the shortage of 8-inch wafer capacity. Industry insiders believe that although various manufacturers are expanding their production capacity, the new production capacity is expected to be put into use within 2-3 years. 8-inch wafer manufacturing is expected to be difficult to ease in the first half of 2022, and automotive-grade MCUs and other early-stage shortages are expected. Chips will continue to be in short supply.

2. Price increases and shortages are still the main theme in 2022

The result of the imbalance between supply and demand in the market is price increases.

Under the circumstance that the "chip shortage tide" will continue, it may be difficult to improve the premium situation in the consumer electronics market.