With most of the population locked inside their homes, the demand for consumer electronics skyrocketed while production dropped as factories were intermittently closed because of local outbreaks. Chip stockpiling in anticipation of supply difficulties by few companies made the situation worse. The crisis even got a new name, “chipageddon“. Even though the pandemic situation has eased, the chip crunch does not show any signs of abating. As per a Bank of America’s note to clients, supply constraints on semiconductor wafer and substrates would only partially ease in the second-half of 2021, while the tight supply of some leading-edge (computing, 5G chips) would extend into 2022 until the completion of inventory replenishment.
Chip-ageddon? The Race to Ace Tech Sovereignty | ORF (orfonline.org)
