The month of July has already brought many changes and announcements in the electronics industry.
The supply-chain disruptions, brought on by increased demand and issues related to Covid-19, continue to send shockwaves throughout the electronics industry. Though the spike in demand has depleted many resources, it has also brought huge success for some businesses. Follow along with our quick blog to get the latest updates in the industry.
Texas Instruments Announces Acquisition of Micron's 300mm Fab
Exciting things are in store for Texas Instruments. Texas Instruments Incorporated, commonly known as Texas Instruments and founded in 1930, continues to be a leader in the global electronics industry. They are on a mission “…to create a better world by making electronics more affordable through semiconductors”. Earlier this month, the company announced the recent acquisition of Micron’s 300 mm fab. The semiconductor factory, based in Lehi, Utah, was acquired for $900 million. This move gives the company an advantage and opens up new opportunities for the future. Most expect the sale to come to completion by the end of 2021.
Malaysian Lockdown Expected to Obstruct Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) Supply
Difficult times continue for Malaysia, an important location to the electronics industry. The lockdown, originally set to expire on June 28th, is being extended. The lockdown was first put in place due to a spike in Covid-19 cases. Infineon, ON Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics, and NXP have factories in Malaysia. This extension certainly has many negative consequences. Due to the continued lockdown, many are expecting another overall raise in prices. Undeniably, this has been a common theme for the semiconductor industry over the past year. As a result, lead times have also continued to increase. The lead time for MOSFETs is a minimum of 30 weeks. For some of IDM’s medium and low voltage MOSFETs, the lead time is around 40 weeks. Some components, such as Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors, are experiencing a shortage due to the continued lockdown.
8-inch Wafer Price Expecting to Rise
8-inch silicon wafers, which are still in high demand due to the impact of Covid-19, are expected to increase in price once again. The prices of the wafer, a particularly important piece in many electronics, are expected to rise 5-10% in the second half of the year. Because of increased demand and a consistently declining inventory, many expect the wafer to be in shortage through the second half of the year. As a result, there have been reports that the top three silicon wafer suppliers, Japan Shin-Etsu, SUMCO, and GlobalWafers, are looking into the possibility of constructing a new silicon wafer plant.
Worldwide IC Market Forecast to Top US $500 billion in 2021
All in all, 2021 has proved to be an incredible year for the IC Market. The market is currently forecasted to top $500 billion this year. Due to a combination of Covid-19 supply-chain disruptions and an ever-increasing demand for products such as smartphones, computers, TVs, automobiles, and other merchandise, the market has seen a lot of gains. Overall, sales for the IC Market are projected to rise 24%. This will also bring an unprecedented and very impressive break through the $500 billion plateaux.
In conclusion, the effects of natural disasters, customer demand, and shortages will continue to impact the industrial goods and services in the electronics industry for the foreseeable future. With pricing increases and limited growth, the electronics industry will undoubtedly continue to feel the harsh effects for quite some time. In the meantime, many manufacturers are working to maintain a competitive advantage to get ahead of the supply chain issues. Despite the many setbacks, the industry still continues to respond with optimism and resilience.
