The fastest route out of the chip shortage

Feature articles | 1月11日，2022年

Luc van den Hove, president and CEO of leading semiconductor research institute imec looks at the challenges for the chip industry in 2022Read More

通过尼克弗莱赫蒂

The coronavirus pandemic is leaving its mark in many ways. Bringing public health services to the brink of collapse and severely impacting our social interactions, it has turned the lives of billions upside down. And today, that very same virus is at the basis of what might go down in history as the ‘Great Microchip Shortage’, says Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of imec, which is probably the world’s leading reearch institute for semiconductor technology.

“I sometimes get questions about how microchip shortages managed to take us completely off guard, much like the actual coronavirus. I know that one thing is certain: over the last few decades, people have come to see microchip technology as a commodity that is embedded in cars, smartphones and countless other household and industrial appliances,” he said. “But today, we know better. It’s clear that chip shortages have a firm grip on the world, causing supply chains to be stretched to their absolute limits.”

“令人惊讶的是，每个人都在看着半导体行业来分类东西，并防止再次发生这种攻击。无疑将是芯片制造商的2022年挑战。“

锁定和家庭工作帮助抑制了Covid-19感染的数量，但也为个人计算机，显示，键盘和网络摄像机产生了大量需求，以及各种游戏机的急剧。

During the first few months of the pandemic, chip manufacturers were able to respond to the world’s changing needs quickly, partly as automotive customers cancelled orders. It was a coping strategy that did well, until consumers started to buy cars and other consumables again, says van den Hove.

Add to that the geopolitical tensions of the past two years. Those tensions caused certain players to start stockpiling microchips, putting even more stress on chipmaking companies. This has led to discussions on sovereignty and ‘Chips Act’ legislation to stimulate local production.

“这是创造完美风暴的这些元素的组合，”他说。

“The current crunch has made it abundantly clear that virtually each economy and industry sector depends heavily on the availability of microchips. To mitigate this vulnerability, 2021 saw the announcement of several regional Chips Acts. With these Acts, the world’s leading economies want to ensure that access to the most advanced chip technology is safeguarded at all times.”

“Some fear that the implementation of the Chips Acts might be at the basis of a total disruption of the semiconductor market. But that is not how I see things,” he said. “In the end, the global semiconductor market is still very much connected. This is a good thing, because the gigantic leaps our industry has made in recent decades are the very result of global cooperation.”

“不要采取保护主义的路线，因为这只会让我们所有人都放缓。相反，可以在强化和连接半导体行业现有优势方面找到真正的出路。这是允许我们最佳利用我们集体知识和专业知识的策略。“

“If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us one thing, it is that panic does not get us anywhere. We should leverage today’s sense of urgency to set things in motion and create a long-term action plan that prevents the current chip crunch from ever happening again. That, to me, should be the philosophy behind the Chips Acts. This is the exercise we all will have to work through in 2022.

www.imec-int.com.

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