Semiconductor shortage has reached 'crisis' levels, Commerce Secretary says
$NVIDIA(NVDA.US$ U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says it's high time for lawmakers to pass legislation that helps end a crippling pandemic-fueled semiconductor shortage that has been going on for a longer than a year.
"It's a crisis," Raimondo said of the shortage on Yahoo Finance Live.
Findings from a new Commerce Department survey underscore the extent of that crisis.
The median inventory of semiconductor products highlighted by buyers has fallen from 40 days in 2019 to less than five days in 2021. Inventories in key industries are even smaller, the report contends.
"This means a disruption overseas, which might shut down a semiconductor plant for 2-3 weeks, has the potential to disable a manufacturing facility and furlough workers in the United States if that facility only has 3-5 days of inventory," the report explains.
Low levels of inventory reflect the rapid buying of semiconductors throughout the pandemic to power demand for work-from-home technologies such as PCs. Demand for chips surged 17% in 2021 from 2019, the report finds.
"What we need is to make more chips in America," Raimondo said.
To that end, it would be helpful to the cause if lawmakers pass the CHIPS for America Act .
The industry's biggest players such as Intel are now waiting for the U.S. government to do its part and pass the $52 billion CHIPS for America Act. In June 2021, the Senate signed off on the legislation — which aims to incentivize U.S. manufacturing of semiconductors. But, the bill is still being debated in the U.S. House of Representatives.
$Ford Motor(F.US$ $NIO Inc(NIO.US$
$Ford Motor(F.US$ $NIO Inc(NIO.US$
Disclaimer: Community is offered by Moomoo Technologies Inc. and is for educational purposes only.
Read more
Comment
Sign in to post a comment
