Our modern devices are smarter than ever before, and even larger products that may still seem mechanical in nature have a growing reliance on microchips and all things electrical such as our automotive industry and modern cars too – they allow us to enjoy our favorite hobbies and options as players check the list of the best betting sites in Ontario from their phones, listen to their favorite music whilst on the go, and see the newest box office movies on our laptops and computers without needing to head to the theatre. But as production ground to a half in 2020, the impact of the semi-conductor shortage is still being felt two years on, with the expectation that it could continue into the future yet.
Intel, one of the largest chip manufacturers, have been amongst the most vocal with how this shortage could impact future plans and have invested heavily into expanding capacity to prevent future shortages from happening – tens of billions were invested in facilities across Europe including a mega site in Germany and an expansion in Ireland too. Early this year, another $20 billion was pledged to build a plant in Ohio with the hopes this will take strain away from the production which for the most part had only existed in the east. Whilst there’s no end in sight currently, the CEO of Intel has also suggested that we’re about halfway through the chip shortage, which doesn’t bode all that well for manufacturers.
Speaking of manufacturers, the automotive industry has been one to struggle throughout with temporary plant closures and delays in delivery of new cars, particularly electric cars too. Delivery times from the big manufacturers like Tesla have been delayed for months, and even more reliable manufacturers such as Kia have seen delays too – the latest has been Toyota which announced that there will be a reduction in production plans by the scale of tens of thousands of units globally due to this shortage.
Modern cars can have up to 3,000 microchips in a single unit and shows why the shortage is having such a big impact on this industry in particular, but warnings also exist with the likes of medical devices being of shortage supply as the medical industry has fell victim to the global shortage too. Calls are now existing for some level of priority to be assigned for things like healthcare to get a bigger share of the availability, but manufacturers may already be tied up in long standing contracts without much room for adjustment for a priority system to work the way some had hoped.
With suggestions that the shortage could persist well past 2024, the reliance on getting new production plants set-up is higher than ever and ensuring the demand is far surpassed in the future rather than simply being matched to capacity as is currently seen and hopes that any potential for shortage can be avoided into the future too.
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