STMicroelectronics MCU shortage did not improve in the first half of the year

In the second half of this year, the leading automotive electronic chip company, NXP, announced that it will raise prices for its multiple product lines starting from the previous quarter, with MCU prices increasing by 6%. The market expects that there may be a shortage of chips for a whole year.

Since 2019, multiple MCU manufacturers around the world have extended their product delivery times from four months to six months, with Japanese MCU manufacturers experiencing a rare extension of nine months. According to Taiwanese media reports, STMicroelectronics reported a significant increase in demand for automotive electronics in the second half of last year, resulting in severe product shortages. Other IDM factories such as Deyi, Renesas, and NXP also experienced similar situations, with delivery delays of 3 months to half a year. Many downstream customers transferred orders to Taiwan factories, benefiting Xintang and others.

According to market semiconductor intelligence data, last year the global electronic product manufacturing industry was mostly thriving, with even Japanese semiconductor factories experiencing years of lackluster growth, driving up sales of electronic components such as IC chips. It is estimated that the global demand for automotive electronics and IoT applications will continue to explode and grow in the future. With full capacity of silicon wafer fabs, the global MCU market is likely to face supply shortages for the entire year in 2020.

Senior analysts say that some manufacturers and upstream Fabs (manufacturing plants) have started increasing their product supply capacity in the second half of 2021, but this still requires two or three quarters to fully unleash these new production capacities. Therefore, it is expected that the tight supply situation will continue into the first half of 2021.