Electronics

When TSMC chairman Liu Deyin was interviewed by Time magazine (Time), he specifically addressed the problem of chip shortages and pointed out that "someone must be hoarding chips in a certain link of the supply chain."

Tight chip supply has forced automakers to cut production. It was originally estimated last month that auto production would be reduced by 7 to 8 million units throughout the year; in early October, the media’s new estimate was that the reduction in production would be increased to 10 million units, which shows the seriousness of the problem. Many people point the finger at chip manufacturers, and the leading company TSMC, which has a market share of more than 50% of the foundry market (52.9% in the second quarter), bears the brunt. However, it has little to do with the shortage of automotive chips.

First of all, the father-in-law changed the victim: car chips are not the main force of TSMC. According to its financial report, whether it accounts for the company's overall sales amount or the global car chip amount, it accounts for only 4%. This is also the result of TSMC's large increase in MCU production capacity under the entrustment of major auto-producing countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, and South Korea. TSMC, which helped solve the chip shortage, has become the subject of review.

Secondly, there are bad debts: According to Gartner's statistics, in 2020 automotive chips will be produced by Infineon, NXP, Renesas, Texas Instruments (TI) and STMicroelectronics (STMicro). ) And other integrated component manufacturing (IDM) factories, occupying only 84% of the market. Last year, the COVID-19 epidemic severely hit demand for automobiles, and automakers slashed chip orders, and IDM immediately reduced its production capacity. When the economy recovers, the demand for automobiles increases sharply, and the slow recovery of IDM production capacity is the main reason for this wave of chip shortages.

Third, there is a lack of incentives for hoarding stocks: TSMC is engaged in pure foundry and does not produce its own chips. It is impossible to stock chips. Instead, Samsung, which produces chips from its own and other companies at the same time, may also stock up. This is why Chairman Liu Deyin specifically mentioned that someone in the supply chain was hoarding chips during the interview.

The U.S. auto industry has strong lobbying capabilities, so it asked the U.S. government to help solve the problem. The Ministry of Commerce invited chip manufacturers, automakers, and technology companies to hold semiconductor summits. However, three meetings have been held so far. The shortage of automotive chips has not only not been resolved, but also It's getting worse.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has lost his patience and his attitude at the third summit has become tough. On the grounds of improving the transparency of the chip supply chain, relevant companies are required to hand over company-related data, including inventory, sales and customers, within 45 days. Wait for commercial secrets to grasp the overview of the semiconductor supply chain.

On the one hand, it is voluntary; on the other hand, Bloomberg pointed out that the United States will not hesitate to use the National Defense Production Act to deal with companies that refuse to provide information. To trace the bottleneck of the supply chain, it should be meaningless to provide information that is visible in the public financial report. Just providing further information will inevitably involve customer-related information, which may infringe on confidentiality agreements and release business secret information such as business model, technical layout and cost.

Compared with the other named Samsung and SK Hynix, the Korean government is obviously much more active. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy immediately established the "Semiconductor Solidarity and Cooperation Committee" with the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, and the government will lead the industry to communicate with the US government.

TSMC, which is in the sandwich biscuits, cannot offend Lao Mei and its customers. It can only explain through well-known foreign magazines: The chip is not hidden by me.