Fires at chip plants in Japan and – this week – in Germany have also interrupted production.
In addition, Taiwan, which is by some margin global leader in semi-conductor manufacturing, have been hit by drought.
This is a big deal because chip manufacturing is water intensive. One Taiwanese company, TSMC – which alone accounts for an estimated 50% share of the world market – uses 156,000 tonnes daily.
The recovery of the global car market is also fuelling further demand at a time when semiconductor manufacturing capacity is already beyond stretched.
“Whilst much media attention has focused on the automotive industry, many other sectors have been and continue to be impacted by the global semi-conductor crisis,” commented Avoira’s managing director, Andrew Roberts.
“Two-way radio, audio visual solutions, video-conferencing and unified communications technologies all rely on semi-conductors and as such supply of products can be disrupted.
“Given that these products are often business critical, it’s vital that companies and public sector organisations order early to account for extended lead times.”
He added that this was true even when dealing with Avoira which, with a massive multi-million pound inventory, is better placed than many other suppliers to maintain holding stocks.
“When the likes of BMW and Daimler are complaining of ongoing and forecast disruption you can appreciate just how far and wide this issue is impacting. No-one is immune. However people can mitigate against supply chain issues by bringing forward orders for new kit.”
