Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Friday local time that the chip shortage is a short-term problem, not a long-term problem, and that the crisis will end next year.
"there are a lot of chip factories under construction and I think we will have good capacity next year," Musk said at an online technology event in Italy on Friday. "
Musk did not specify which chip factory he was referring to. Chip giants TSMC and Intel have announced plans to build new plants in the United States, but they will take several years to go into production.
Samsung Electronics is in talks with Tesla to produce the next generation of autopilot chips for Tesla, based on Samsung's 7nm chip production process, media reported on Thursday. Since the beginning of the year, Tesla and Samsung have repeatedly discussed chip design and exchanged prototypes of the chip, which will be used in Tesla's upcoming Hardware 4 self-driving computer, the report said. Samsung declined to comment on the news, and Tesla has yet to respond.
The global chip shortage has had a significant impact on many industries, especially the automobile industry. Established carmakers such as Ford, Volkswagen and Daimler have been forced to suspend production at different times and cut production targets because of a lack of chips. Tesla is also not immune. Musk has said many times this year that Tesla has supply chain problems and the chip shortage has affected the company's production capacity.
AlixPartners, a consultancy, predicted this week that the auto industry would lose $210 billion in revenue this year alone due to chip shortages.
Mark Wakefield, co-head of AlixPartners's global automotive business, said everyone hopes the chip crisis has eased so far, but the blockade in Malaysia and continuing problems elsewhere have exacerbated the situation.
