The global chip shortage could last until 2023. (Source: Nikkei) Came in by surprise The Covid-19 pandemic was the first to cause the global economy to fall into recession last year, disrupting supply chains and changing consumer shopping patterns. So, to cope with the pandemic, automakers are forced to cut chip orders in 2020, while chip manufacturing companies also reduce production activities. But the rapid recovery and mis-predictions of car buyer demand have caused automakers to rush to place orders in large quantities. Meanwhile, the supply of semiconductor chips is not enough. In addition, the US government’s sanctions on Chinese technology corporations, plus consumers who bought many laptops, game consoles and other electronic products during the pandemic led to Inventory is getting smaller and smaller. Although computer chips are not very complicated or expensive, they are an integral part of making electronic devices and household items. Shortages are getting worse, spreading from the car industry to the consumer electronics market. Estimates by the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association say about 75% of global manufacturing capacity is in East Asia, led by TSMC (Taiwan) and Samsung (Korea). U.S. semiconductor companies account for 47 percent of global chip sales, but only 12 percent of global output is produced here. The shortfall is due to Asian companies investing too little in 8-inch chip factories. These companies have struggled to ramp up production as demand for 5G phones and laptops grew faster than expected. Qualcomm Inc, Samsung’s smartphone chip maker, is one of the major chipmakers struggling to keep up with consumer demand. Apple’s main supplier Foxconn also warned about the lack of chips affecting the supply chain for customers. Widespread impact The chip crisis hit the car industry first, especially on the productivity and sales of big companies like General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen. According to market research firm IHS Markit, the shortage of electronic chips affected the production process of 1.3 million cars and trucks worldwide in the first quarter of 2021. The company’s report also shows that the Renesas chip plant fire in Japan in March, as well as disruption to chip factories due to severe winter weather in Texas, will cause shortages. becomes serious. Last month, the British mini-car maker said it had suspended production lines for three days because of chip shortages. Recently, Ford also warned that the number of products is at risk of falling to 1.1 million vehicles this year. At the end of last year, the impact of the chip shortage crisis spread to consumer electronics. Last month, Apple’s financials indicated that the company would suffer losses of between three and four billion dollars in the first two quarters of the year, with the biggest impact on Mac and iPad products. Recently, Chinese technology giant Xiaomi increased the prices of some TV models, citing the fact that the price of key components increased higher than before. Meanwhile, two electronics groups Samsung of Korea and Sony of Japan also simultaneously increased product prices. In addition, the crisis has begun to affect China’s home appliance manufacturing sector. The world’s largest maker of home appliances, Midea Group, said the price of chips used to make home appliances would soar if the global chip shortage persists. The biggest impact from the chip crisis is still consumers. While demand for consumer electronics and automotive items tends to be quite price-sensitive, a reduced supply can increase the price of affected items by 1-3%. This could temporarily boost inflation later this year. Chip pressure has pushed up car prices in the US. New prices averaged $37,200 in the first quarter, up 8.4% year-over-year. Meanwhile, production disruptions due to chip shortages will continue. CEO of chip maker Infineon (Germany) Reinhard Ploss estimated that it will take about two years for chip supply and demand to be balanced. THIUY VUY (according to SCMP/Reuters)

China pushes up chip production for technology autonomy In addition to “Made in China 2025”, China also has a “dual circulation” strategy, with the ambition to introduce new technology standards different from the West. Fast but unstable With this new strategy, China moves towards a self-sufficiency policy, reducing dependence on foreign countries. Specifically, with semiconductor technology, China will mobilize its own human resources to develop a new-generation chip research, design and production network to disrupt the isolation created by the US. The trade war with Western countries is seen as a reminder to the Chinese leadership that the country cannot depend on imports but must develop domestic core technology and pursue leaps and bounds. technology, especially in essential industries like semiconductors. China has set out many goals to realize its ambition such as: fostering a contingent of domestic technology talent, building high-tech companies with global influence to expand the model of “sovereignty network “in order to strictly control the Internet. In addition, there is securing secure information infrastructure, enhancing state censorship and surveillance in the digital space, and building a managed and enhanced digital economy. network security capabilities. Beijing has also stepped up building a “digital China” towards fulfilling its future technological ambitions of the world in the fields of quantum computing, 5G, semiconductors, and blockchain technology. (blockchain), big data, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and robotics. With the aim of accelerating the technology autonomy plan, China Development Bank prepared more than $ 60 billion in loans for more than 1,000 key businesses in its strategic innovation plan, and raised $ 30 billion for a new government-backed microchip fund. From March this year, news that Eastern Communications, a subsidiary of China Putian Information Industry Group (Potevio), will restructure and merge with China Electronic Technology Corporation (CETC) to make surplus. attention comment. The reason is that Potevio and CETC are both state-owned enterprises, run by the China State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). Potevio is an enterprise specializing in manufacturing telecommunications equipment, such as components for 5G infrastructure, server systems, memory, automatic teller machines. Potevio’s strengths relate to wireless communication and security. Meanwhile, CETC is the main supplier for the Beihou satellite system and is known to be a software and service provider for the Chinese military. The company also participates in the development of a Chinese version of the Windows operating system and develops many other areas such as the manufacture of semiconductors and antennas for 5G networks, and equipment for technology. self-propelled vehicle. The merger is intended to enhance the CETC’s resilience from US sanctions against the group’s companies, including Hikvision, the world’s top security camera maker. However, although China is actively promoting domestic technology development, it is difficult for observers to reach its goal of technological autonomy. In the past, Beijing had planned to spend 2.5% of its GDP on research and development, but actual spending has yet to reach that target. One area that has struggled with China is microchips, where most electronic products depend on it. In the past, Chinese companies were confused by the extremely complicated chip manufacturing process, so they decided instead of researching, they imported most of the necessary semiconductors. Over the years, although the government has supported the Chinese manufacturers to develop some chip manufacturing capabilities, the results have not been as expected. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, Chinese chipmakers have received government subsidies of up to $ 50 billion over the past 20 years. Domestic companies also benefit from tax exemptions, free land, concessional loans, and priority purchases. Despite progress in chip design, China’s problem lies in its ability to produce high-end chips. China is currently only able to make mid-range chips because making semiconductor chips requires high precision. Many doubts The gradual technological autonomy has led China to a bolder plan: to export technology abroad. The dominant Chinese products in the world market are drones, laser equipment, equipment used in space technology, 3D printing, telecommunications equipment … China has taken advantage of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to implement this plan. Through the BRI, in Africa, China provides loans, exports technology and builds infrastructure to countries such as Guinea and Kenya, while exploiting the natural resources of the leading country. private. China has organized a number of technology fairs, digital economy with many countries participating in BRI such as: Digital technology fair with 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe belonging to Group 17 + 1; Digital technology forum with 5 countries in Central Asia including: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan. These fairs aim to launch 1,334 digital and information technology projects along the “Digital Silk Road” corridor with 3 continents of Asia – Europe – Africa, of which, the focus is on regions. : Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and East Africa. At the same time, to deploy new types of technology such as Internet connecting things, big data, digital infrastructure and project “Smart Africa” ​​with 26 countries in Africa. Major Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and ZTE expand their “Digital Silk Road” plan through Chinese-built fiber-optic networks, as well as equip local authorities with monitoring tools. Internet monitoring and censorship. There are no official technology export statistics for 2020, but the most recent report said that in 2019, China’s technology exports reached a trade value of 32.1 billion USD, equivalent to import value. This is a miraculous development, because 6 years ago, the proportion of export – import was 1 – 2. However, the technology “made in China” still caused many doubts. Observers say that Chinese companies are exporting “next generation surveillance systems” in several regions of the world, including Latin America. Venezuela alone, with the help of Chinese telecommunications conglomerate ZTE, has built up a database that can track citizens’ behavior through citizenship. The use of big data for security purposes is acceptable to the general public in South America, but after being widely used, those systems can be misused for espionage purposes. Moreover, according to observers, the Chinese technology industry, although developing rapidly, is not stable. This country has not mastered the technology of new generation chip production that the US, Japan, and South Korea are very proficient in. China’s domestic chip production will only meet 15.9% of the country’s demand in 2020, said IC Insights, a semiconductor research company in the US, compared with 15.1%. in 2014.