How is Chipageddon affecting you?

[Smokey]

0.7%, that isn't bad.

It is when the top 29 of that 187 are all over $300 each.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Well, that can't be right, the Wall Street Journal says the shortage is over, and there is now a glut.

Can't you just be happy there's good news, finally?

 

[chickenHeadKnob]

Well, that can't be right, the Wall Street Journal says the shortage is over, and there is now a glut.

Can't you just be happy there's good news, finally?

 

I am guessing you are referring to Micron cutting back wafer starts?
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20221116VL211/capex-memory-chips-micron-technology.html
https://www.philstockworld.com/2022/11/16/micron-slides-after-cutting-wafer-starts-by-20-slashing-capex-drags-chipmakers-lower/

This could be interpreted as a bad sign. First boom and bust cycles in memory happen more often and are coupled to consumer electronics market demand and  somewhat decoupled from boom and bust in logic. From what I can tell small geometry <14nm nodes production lines are not where there are still sustained shortages It seems that 40 to 130nm logic used in automotive/industrial is where the pain is.

[Kasper]

Another $4 billion pumping the supply side.  Also, Reuters is claiming a sharp slowdown in global chip demand.

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) said it bought more than $4.1 billion of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW), , a rare significant foray into the technology sector by billionaire Warren Buffett's conglomerate.

The news sent shares in TSMC soaring, closing up 7.9% in Taiwan on Tuesday, as it boosted investor sentiment for the world's largest contract chipmaker, which saw its shares hit a two-year low last month due to a sharp slowdown in global chip demand.

[Smokey]

I just had a thought...

Because of shortages, designers are forced to use parts from smaller companies that are only in stock because no one wanted to use them before the shortages. 

I wonder how many of those smaller companies will be able to capitalize on the sales/exposure boost and move up to middle or big guys themselves....

[SiliconWizard]

Not sure about the small ones, but Maxim for instance certainly regained significant market and trust thanks to the shortage.
Many companies that had basically striked Maxim off their list - for chronic poor availability and parts getting obsolete with little warning - started considering Maxim again as they have tended to do better than average ever since the shortage started.

[tom66]

I've heard from an MPS sales rep that they became a lot more interesting as TI has failed to keep the market supplied.

Certainly they won several part design-ins on a recent product, it's not huge volumes but their parts seem to be at least as good as TI's (maybe a few more passives required) but cheaper and availability is better, so that could get them a lot of business.

Longer term I suspect TI will regret not supplying the SME's.

[JPortici]

I just had a thought...

Because of shortages, designers are forced to use parts from smaller companies that are only in stock because no one wanted to use them before the shortages. 

I wonder how many of those smaller companies will be able to capitalize on the sales/exposure boost and move up to middle or big guys themselves....

One thing for sure: Smaller, even local (national only) distis that carry brands that the big boys don't (namely chinese brands) are becoming very, very big.

[Smokey]

I just had a thought...

Because of shortages, designers are forced to use parts from smaller companies that are only in stock because no one wanted to use them before the shortages. 

I wonder how many of those smaller companies will be able to capitalize on the sales/exposure boost and move up to middle or big guys themselves....

One thing for sure: Smaller, even local (national only) distis that carry brands that the big boys don't (namely chinese brands) are becoming very, very big.

All you need is at total of 20 years of experience and a couple "serial entrepreneurs"...
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/who-is-microchipusa-com/

[JPortici]

I just had a thought...

Because of shortages, designers are forced to use parts from smaller companies that are only in stock because no one wanted to use them before the shortages. 

I wonder how many of those smaller companies will be able to capitalize on the sales/exposure boost and move up to middle or big guys themselves....

One thing for sure: Smaller, even local (national only) distis that carry brands that the big boys don't (namely chinese brands) are becoming very, very big.

All you need is at total of 20 years of experience and a couple "serial entrepreneurs"...
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/who-is-microchipusa-com/

Nah, not like that. I've been recently made contact with a local supplier (fun fact, for 30 years they were based in the building behind my school and i literally never heard of them before), they are the italian distributors for a couple of chinese brands (including GEEHY) that have been delivering pin to pin compatible alternatives to STM32 and the likes, with actual stock, four weeks lead time during all 2022. You can imagine how business has been going for them

[tom66]

And you know once the software gets ported over, they won't be buying original STM32's any more.

I've seen the odd contract popping up for GD32 porting too.

[JPortici]

And you know once the software gets ported over, they won't be buying original STM32's any more.

Exactly. The only ones that aren't doing it are those who don't want to recertify

[SilverSolder]

I just had a thought...

Because of shortages, designers are forced to use parts from smaller companies that are only in stock because no one wanted to use them before the shortages. 

I wonder how many of those smaller companies will be able to capitalize on the sales/exposure boost and move up to middle or big guys themselves....

One thing for sure: Smaller, even local (national only) distis that carry brands that the big boys don't (namely chinese brands) are becoming very, very big.

All you need is at total of 20 years of experience and a couple "serial entrepreneurs"...
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/who-is-microchipusa-com/

Nah, not like that. I've been recently made contact with a local supplier (fun fact, for 30 years they were based in the building behind my school and i literally never heard of them before), they are the italian distributors for a couple of chinese brands (including GEEHY) that have been delivering pin to pin compatible alternatives to STM32 and the likes, with actual stock, four weeks lead time during all 2022. You can imagine how business has been going for them

Is this whole thing pre-saging the demise of Western electronics companies, when it comes to commodity components?  - perhaps that is true already....   

Why not in electronics as in most other areas?

[tom66]

It's not the demise of western electronics companies, but it will certainly make it easier for some of the newer players to get a foothold.

I guess think of it a bit like when Toyota and Honda broke into the US car market - by offering small, economical cars during the fuel crisis, while the bigger players were only offering larger, inefficient vehicles. 

The smaller manufacturers are going to get some design wins, but importantly build a reputation, which will snowball.

I doubt it will destroy TI and the like (Ford still makes cars, to borrow my example), but they will probably begin to regret the decisions they have made in the future.  Time will tell. 

[paulca]

"Looking for  Microcontrollers.  Will pay Bitcoin.  No fakes.  DM me!"

Joke.  Although, it's getting pretty shadey now.  People are scalping STM32s.  I was very tempted as someone had a sealed Mouser bag of 3 x STM32F411CE's for £40.  (What is their list?  About £6 each?)

Mouser said they have 932 STM32 microcontroller products.  I asked, "In stock?", they said, emmm.... 7.  6 of which were F0s.  I did get 2xF411REs from Farnel a few weeks back.  Thinking I should have sold them on now.

What concerns me much more is the disappearance of the older chips.  Chips which are the mainstay of the hobbiest.  Chips from the 90s and 00s.  Chips like the TI PCMnnnn's BB chips.  PCM270X, PCM510x, etc. etc.  While I can see production of the leading each 9 pin BGA 2.5mmx2.5mm ICs ramping up in production again, but who is going to fire up lines of those kinda of "last year" chips?  Chips that been around long enough for people to write Arduino drivers for them.

Maybe it's just distribution and there are still stock piles of those chips, or maybe there are plenty of older generation fabrication lines out there people will blow the dust off and start making 10 year old chips again.

I have even gone as far as ordering a few single ICs from AliExpress to see if I stand any chance of them not being fake or b-grade trash.  I'm thinking I might get luckier with the older generation chips like those PCMnnnn rather than the STM32s.  Although there does seem to be some obvious signs.  For every seller with an STM32F411 at £3.70+£2.00 shipping, there are 2 who will sell you half a dozen for that price!  Although they never seem to get the description quite right and don't even bother to take a photo (or even google a proper photo) and use a blurred image of a generic chip.

[SilverSolder]

Manufacturing older chips might be something that might work for smaller manufacturers, as many of them are niche markets now?

[Smokey]

Manufacturing older chips might be something that might work for smaller manufacturers, as many of them are niche markets now?

Paging Rochester Electronics.... Someone is trying to contact you
https://www.rocelec.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Electronics

[MT]

Flavio Volpe, President of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association on how chip shortages will squeeze the auto industry into late 2023.

[MT]

UK Government deems Nexperia’s acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab a “risk to national security”
Pursuant to section 26 of the National Security and Investment Act 2021, the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has made a final order after its review of the acquisition on 5 July 2021 by Netherlands-based Nexperia BV of an additional 86% of the shares of Newport Wafer Fab (NWF, now Nexperia Newport Ltd, or NNL), taking its stake to 100%.

The order determines that the acquisition constitutes a trigger event under section 8(2)(c) of the Act. Specifically, the acquisition by Nexperia (a subsidiary of China-based Wingtech Technology Co Ltd) presents a risk to national security relating to:

https://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2022/nov/nexperia-newport-181122.shtml

[SiliconWizard]

Late 2023? Well... Maybe make that 2030.

[MT]

GM's chip shortage at Kokomo GM factory!

[SilverSolder]

UK Government deems Nexperia’s acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab a “risk to national security”
Pursuant to section 26 of the National Security and Investment Act 2021, the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has made a final order after its review of the acquisition on 5 July 2021 by Netherlands-based Nexperia BV of an additional 86% of the shares of Newport Wafer Fab (NWF, now Nexperia Newport Ltd, or NNL), taking its stake to 100%.

The order determines that the acquisition constitutes a trigger event under section 8(2)(c) of the Act. Specifically, the acquisition by Nexperia (a subsidiary of China-based Wingtech Technology Co Ltd) presents a risk to national security relating to:

https://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2022/nov/nexperia-newport-181122.shtml

Anything that competes with existing big companies turns out to be a "risk to national security"  -  the lobbyists are doing a great job!

[MT]

Foxconn Apple Iphone workers as mentioned a week ago was angry but today they are really, really angry, so angry
they fight on the streets with police and Covid 19 workers bashing them with wooden planks and trowing steel barriers! 

Video:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1595463176719826946

[SiliconWizard]

  (sorry not funny, but a bit)

[tom66]

China's "zero COVID" policy really going well then.