The Global Chip Shortage Is Like the Winter That Won’t Go Away

When Samsung Electronics Co. says there is a “serious imbalance in supply and demand” for chips, there can be little doubt that we are dealing with a severe semiconductor shortage. The warning from the world’s largest smartphone maker — and a major producer of chips — was the loudest in the recent litany of complaints from carmakers, auto parts and electronics manufacturers as well as other microprocessor companies.

The underlying data from some of the biggest chipmakers continue to show lead times at factories getting longer for products across the board. On average, it’s gone from 10 weeks to about 17 weeks for certain types of microprocessors over the last year, according to data from Bain & Company and LevaData, a procurement and sourcing platform. In addition, around 75% of all semiconductor parts had an overall jump in lead times, with most of the increases coming over the earlier part of this year, according to IHS Markit. Capacity utilization numbers remain elevated, meaning factories are running at full steam. And there are a variety of chips that have lead times of as long as 52 weeks. If you need a different types of chips in your car or phone or flat screen panel, then the problems just multiply.