The current global supply shortage of semiconductors will last well into 2023, said Germany’s biggest chipmaker company Infineon Technologies’ CEO Reinhard Ploss in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
He said that the scarcity may stretch into 2023 in areas where capacity expansion is slow to catch up with consumer demand. Reinhard added that building new facilities and clean rooms in which the silicon wafers are processed into chips can take two to two and a half years. He further said that upgrading the existing facilities may take three quarters to a year.
Reinhard estimated the capacity shortage is nearly 20% short of demand currently in the mobile telephony chip sector, while other areas are facing a shortfall of 10%.
According to him, the increased work from home needs and the catch-up effect in the automotive industry following pandemic-fueled delays have become major drivers for the chip industry. He cited that the faster adoption of electric cars and growing demand for renewable energy were among other factors contributing to the shortage.
Munich-based IFO institute reported that nearly two-thirds of Germany’s industrial companies have reported shortages in the supply of semiconductors, while Stuttgarter Nachrichten and Stuttgarter Zeitung mentioned that the chip shortage will also force automotive giant Daimler to cut workers’ hours in some plants this week.
Reinhard called for more efforts in Europe to make it self-sufficient who depend less on foreign exporters in the semiconductor business. The Infineon CEO is open to cooperating with other companies as long as it fits Infineon’s business strategy.
