The global semiconductor delivery cycle is still lengthening some processors up to 99 weeks

According to Japanese media reports on the 13th, the global core alarm has not yet been lifted, and the delivery time of semiconductors is still being extended. Lead times for chip orders increased by five to 15 weeks in February compared with October last year, according to data provided by Sourcengine, a US electronic components distributor. According to these calculations, the average lead time for general-purpose products for 16-bit processors is 44 weeks, an increase of 15 weeks over October, and the average delivery cycle for power management chips is 37 weeks, an increase of 9 weeks. The maximum delivery time for some processors is 99 weeks.

In addition to the fact that demand is growing faster than supply, chipmakers are also giving priority to the shortage of cutting-edge chips, rather than products such as the (commodity products), a general-purpose product, with unlimited supplier channels. The average price of other chips, such as processors, has risen by 15 per cent or more in a year, according to Gartner, a US market research firm.

A total of 730000 air conditioners were produced in the October-December 2021 quarter, down 26 per cent from the same period two years ago, according to government data. Production of digital cameras fell by 25% and passenger cars by 16%.

Sony halted orders for six mirrorless camera models in the last two months of 2021 and halted production for three times because of a shortage of semiconductors for liquid crystal displays. The resulting production shortfall undermined Sony's opportunity to sell cameras, with sales falling 4% in the October-December quarter.

Hiroki Totoki (10:00, Sony's chief financial officer and executive vice president, said: "some products are also expected to be in short supply in the first half of fiscal year 2022, so we will build up inventory."

Chipmakers are coping with increased supply and wafer shipments will grow by 14 per cent in 2021. However, due to giving priority to the supply of cutting-edge chips, the increase in the production capacity of general-purpose commercial chips has retreated to a secondary position. According to McKinsey, a US consulting firm, chip capacity in 40nm processes increased by 4 per cent in 2021. At the same time, production capacity of 28nm and more cutting-edge processes increased by 13 per cent.