Why is the global shortage of semiconductors happening now?

Recently, we often hear about the "semiconductor shortage" in the news. Many industries are affected, and the automobile industry is also a factor in restraining production. So, let's reconfirm what semiconductors are in the first place, and why they are currently in short supply.

Semiconductors can make it easier or harder for electricity to flow, depending on the conditions. Taking advantage of this feature, it is possible to allow current to flow in only one direction, amplify electrical signals, and turn current on and off at high speed. A device with this function is called a semiconductor device. Semiconductor devices are indispensable parts for computer control, and they are also essential for modern automobile manufacturing.

For example, electric vehicles (EV) and other vehicles that can be driven by a motor can accelerate and decelerate in time with the driver's accelerator operation by turning the motor on and off at high speed. Therefore, semiconductor devices are important parts for the electrification of vehicles.

Semiconductor elements are indispensable not only for cars, but also for everyday home appliances and electronic terminals, as well as devices that use electricity to control information communication functions such as smartphones, recording and viewing photos and videos, etc. .

With the spread of personal computers and the use of the Internet, the demand for semiconductor devices is increasing worldwide. The supply system gradually became unmanageable. As a result, there are global impacts such as the shutdown of automobile production plants.

In the first place, parts production factories are not limited to semiconductor elements, and are always 100% operational and profitable. Unlike a new car that costs several million yen, the unit price of each part is cheap, and the business is based on mass production. Therefore, if the factory utilization rate falls below 100%, there is a risk of loss.

Therefore, the planned number of production is important for supplying parts for new car manufacturing, and the scale of the parts factory is decided accordingly. Adjustments to increase or decrease production can be made through the production process at the factory or by coordinating between dispersed factories, but this time, partly due to the impact of the corona crisis, there were restrictions on the number of employees and the number of employees who could not come to work. As a result, the manufacturing work did not proceed according to the original production plan, which also exacerbated the shortage of products.

In the movement toward EVs, the production of lithium-ion batteries is the same, and automobile manufacturers themselves are investing in the construction of battery factories to spread the spread of EVs.

The semiconductor material is silicon (silicon), and silicon is said to be the second most abundant element on earth after oxygen. Therefore, it can be said that the current shortage of semiconductor devices is largely influenced by changes in social structures and environments rather than resource problems.

The solution will be to eliminate the pandemic and strengthen the supply system according to demand. Both are challenges that will take some time. A pandemic is a viral infection, and it is difficult to predict when it will come to an end, and it will take time to secure sites and expand facilities to build factories and other production facilities.

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