Can Catch Up with Auto Chip Shortage by End June: TSMC

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), said on a CBS program that it expects to catch up with the chip shortage by the end of June.

Chip Shortage to End Sooner than Expected?

The chipmaker expects to catch up with the "minimum requirement" of customer demand for auto chips. Notably, automakers worldwide are closing assembly lines because of chip shortage for the industry. Many of these shortages are directly related to the former US administration's treatment of Chinese chipmakers.

Taiwan is the home to a booming semiconductor industry. As such, it is in the front and centre of efforts to resolve chip shortage across the board. In the same vein, Taiwanese chipmakers have vowed to ramp up production.

Speaking at the same program as Intel CEO, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said they first heard about the shortages in December. Since then, TSMC has tried to produce as many chips as possible for automakers. "Today, we think we are two months ahead, that we can catch up the minimum requirement of our customers, before the end of June," he said.

However, he did not say that the chip shortage will not end in two months. "There's a time lag. In car chips particularly, the supply chain is long and complex. The supply takes about seven to eight months," Liu added.

Incidentally, TSMC is the world's largest contract chipmaker. At first, the chip shortage was felt in automobile industry, back in December 2020. Since then, it has spread to other sectors such as consumer electronics and telecom.

Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark warned that such a shortage could drastically affect telecom sector. He said that although Nokia's production has not halted because of it, but the telecom maker has had to face issues related to chip procurement.

At CBS' program, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said that this chip shortage will stay here for at least a 'couple of years'.