The global shortage of semiconductors that is impacting nearly every electronic item is expected to last until the second quarter of next year, research firm Gartner says in a new report.
Pro AV is beginning to see the impact of this shortage, that was brought on as a result of a quicker-than-expected economic recovery last year and an influx of spending on everything from automobiles to consumer electronics and pro AV systems.
Distributors and economists told me last month that we could see some relief later this year, but Gartner’s new report throws water on that notion.
“The semiconductor shortage will severely disrupt the supply chain and will constrain the production of many electronic equipment types in 2021. Foundries are increasing wafer prices, and in turn, chip companies are increasing device prices,” said Kanishka Chauhan, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Read Next: The Global Chip Shortage Is Beginning To Impact Pro AV Supply Chains
The shortage of semiconductors began with devices like power management, display devices and microcontrollers fabricated on legacy nodes at 8-inch foundry fabs, and it has now extended to other devices.
There are now shortages for substrates, wire bonding, passives materials and testing, ‘all of which are part of the supply chain beyond chip fabs,” Gartner’s report says.
According to the report, the shortage is expected to remain “severe” until the fourth quarter of this year, and it will go back to normal in the second quarter of 2022.
It’s not just Gartner saying the chip shortage will get worse before it gets better. A recent Bloomberg article cited research by Susquehanna Financial Group that says chip lead times increased to 17 weeks in April, the longest wait time since the firm began tracking that data in 2017.
Pro AV displays have seemingly been the most impacted, but I imagine integrators will soon be experiencing increased wait times for many other devices.
