Global component shortage set to last until 2023

We have been reporting on how COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on the LCD supply chain increased demand in for devices such as laptops, laptops and gaming devices. It is now widely reported across the world's media that there simply aren’t enough chips to go around and global component shortages are set to be with us until 2023.

The current situation

Pressure is growing with the emergence of new technologies and products such as electric vehicles, 5G networks and smart home technologies meaning the demand for ICs and semiconductors far outstrips availability. 

That coupled with the continued demand for devices for home-working, home entertainment, gaming etc. means this problem is not going away any time soon.

Manufacturing facilities are at capacity, but there is hope as the foundries investing in new facilities and doing it quickly - with the construction of massive facilities happening at lightning speed. But it will take time for these new foundries to get up to speed and deal with the backlog of demand. Unfortunately, until that time comes, it’s a seller’s market. We understand that the volatility everyone is experiencing is making this an extremely difficult situation to manage.

Prices and lead-times are changing on an almost daily basis, components that had been anticipated to continue for a number of years are being made end of life with little or no notice.

We are working extremely closely with our manufacturing partners, who are putting in a huge amount of effort to try to secure TFT panels, driver ICs etc., in order to keep shipping schedules on time. The component manufacturers often issue last minute increases. If our factory doesn’t agree to the prices, the parts aren’t shipped and are sold to the next in line prepared to pay the higher price.

The impact of this extreme supply and demand shift means that our customers may experience several price rises to one part, extended lead-times and last minute delays to shipments. Its not the way we want to do business, but it really is out of our control. Through our operations teams in Asia and across Europe, we are very closely monitoring the situation with chip suppliers and our own manufacturing partners and are quick to react when things change to keep disruption to an absolute minimum for our customers.

Contact us here for any questions you have regarding component supply