Samsung Electronics warns: Automotive chip shortage may affect smartphones

On the one hand, the demand for consumer electronics such as televisions and laptops has increased significantly, while on the other hand, car manufacturers have reduced or stopped production. The domino effect caused by chip shortages is gradually expanding. Samsung Electronics recently warned that the tight global chip supply may even disrupt the supply of smartphone processors.

According to the Financial Times, Samsung Electronics recently said that the global chip shortage has hit automakers, and as wafer fabs are rushing to deal with the crisis, the delivery of smartphone chip orders may be affected.

It is reported that many wafer fabs are currently operating at full capacity to meet the global demand for automotive chips. From another perspective, this also affects new orders for wafer fabs, which may slow down the delivery of mobile phone processors.

Samsung further pointed out that as a result, demand for its DRAM and NAND memory chips may be affected.

Han Jinman, executive vice president of Samsung's memory business, said the global foundry supply shortage and supply issues of other semiconductor components could affect mobile phone demand, so the company is closely monitoring the impact.

It is worth mentioning that Samsung Electronics said in its fourth-quarter earnings conference call that it is considering expanding its chip factory, with the most likely locations being Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek in South Korea, and Austin, Texas, USA.

At the same time, in response to the shortage of automotive chips, the governments of Germany, the United States and Japan have all requested assistance from Taiwan, China. TSMC also stated earlier that it will make solving the chip supply problem in the automotive industry a top priority and is reallocating production capacity to accelerate the production of related automotive products in order to meet the needs of automakers.