Semiconductors out of stock - The shortage continues

The problem with semiconductors for electric cars, cell phones and electrical equipment started with the pandemic in 2020 when the supply started to decrease and the demand for electrical equipment increased as it was required for telecommuting, virtual classrooms, etc.

In addition, the supply chain was affected by port closures and deliveries were bottlenecked. Expectations were high that this would improve by 2022, but the U.S. Bureau of Commerce conducted a survey of semiconductor producers and users, which indicated that we could continue to be constrained by the limitations of this vital commodity for the commercial and consumer electronics industries.

This survey was done in the fall of 2021 where 150 companies voluntarily participated, the result is that the respondents do not foresee the problem being resolved in the next six (6) months. Gina Raimondo (Secretary of Commerce in the Biden Administration) said: "That tells you how fragile this supply chain is.". This was their response to the problem after the survey results.

The same administration is asking the largest chip companies to submit their data on chip production in order to maintain a more updated information management and decision-making process. The companies involved maintained a willingness to hand over this data to the government for better management of the situation, the Biden administration said.

It would seem that this problem would have a slight solution until the second half of 2022, as demand has increased by 25% compared to the same period in 2021, while supply remains the same.