All

The chip shortage consequences and how to ease the downsides of it

We’re just realizing that semiconductors are such an essential component of industries that most technological products like gaming consoles, mobile devices, and even vehicles are going scarce in the market.

Back in August, when China started having difficulties providing the regular output of semiconductors (better known as “chips”), companies in the USA such as General Motors, Microsoft, Apple, or Tesla announced that sales were going to be deeply affected in the next couple of months as they’d be incapable of meeting the demand of their products.

And almost 6 months later, customers are now experiencing the downside of chip shortages as latest generation consoles like the PS5 and the Xbox series X/S are nowhere to be found. Hopeful buyers are recurring to stock alert websites to try and catch a console as soon as a webpage lists it on their marketplaces and there are even Twitter accounts alerting for new stocks of consoles online and other services such as Discord have servers where you can learn how to set up for specific product alerts.

In the automotive industry, car deliveries are either being postponed for months or they’re being sold without the usual features. General Motors, for example, have been obliged to sell their cars without advanced gas management systems or their wireless charging tools. In the case of Renault, clients that can’t wait for the arrival of semiconductors have to buy SUVs without the usual large screens behind the seats, something which isn’t much of an issue but then there’s Nissan who’s being forced to leave navigation systems out of their cars. A much bigger problem for the client.

The chip shortage consequences and how to ease the downsides of it1

The ugly part is that the semiconductor chip shortage issue is nowhere near being solved. Apparently, the global infrastructure of chipmakers isn’t ready for the actual demand and the forecast is that as new technology products continue to appear on the market, the demand for chips will keep growing. As the world’s industry hasn’t got the capabilities of producing enough chips to meet the demand, the shortage could continue for the whole year of 2022.

But on the upside, there are huge efforts underway to try to fix this supply crisis and the outcome could mean the creation of new jobs and the dynamization of the economy in manufacturing countries, such as in the United States.

Semiconductors aren’t only being built in China. The USA industry is actually a mature industry in terms of chip production and the shortage is provoking that many companies are investing heavily in expanding their infrastructure in order to provide the different industries with the needed input.

Microchip Technology, a company based in Arizona, is acquiring new equipment and even hiring employees in order to expand their production of semiconductors. GlobalFoundries, from New York, is building a new chip plant in order to double the production, and Wolfspeed of North Carolina will begin to produce chips as they see a business opportunity to exploit.

These are positive developments for the industry that will hopefully serve to soothe the negative impact of the shortage in the economy.

But at the same time, there are other benefits that can be taken out of this issue and that’s the consumption patterns of the population. As new products are scarce, the average consumer will have to adapt to the situation and either find local alternatives to cover their needs or perhaps just consume less, which will result in an obvious positive effect in terms of sustainability and the fight against climate change.

In the gaming industry, the lack of consoles won’t stop gamers from finding other ways of entertainment. The surge of interest in mobile casinos is providing people with accessible platforms with the best mobile casino games that can even be played on desktop computers. Mobile casinos have the best security measures, so you can feel safe when using your debit and credit cards when making deposits and claiming your prizes. Internet is not being affected by the chip shortage so the correct navigation and speed in these platforms are guaranteed.

The chip shortage is surely going to impact the Christmas season and your hunt for gifts, so better prepare yourself and try to shift your usual consumer behaviors in order to be less impacted by this crisis.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button