Facing 8 Different Difficulties
The Nikkei reported on May 26 that Taiwanese semiconductor companies are facing eight different difficulties and this may adversely affect global chip supply. The difficulties are water shortage, power shortage, increasing COVID-19 infections in Taiwan and the companies’ overseas production bases, vaccine shortage, component shortage, manpower shortage, and soaring transportation costs attributable to container shortage.
“Taiwanese companies are failing to produce personal computers and smartphones due to the shortages and the capacity utilization of their plants in Vietnam, India, and so on are falling due to COVID-19,” the newspaper reported, adding, “This situation can be an opportunity for Samsung Electronics, although the opportunity will not be very easy to grab.”
Samsung Electronics is aiming to beat Taiwan's TSMC, the No. 1 player in the global foundry market, and top the global system-on-chip market by 2030 at the latest.