Carnewschina once reported on the shortage of new energy vehicle chips, and now this question seems to have an answer.
On October 11, CPCA published a new article [Weekly Analysis] Auto Market Scanning (September 26-September 30, 2021).
CPCA is a well-known automobile industry information exchange and market research platform in China. It was established in 1994. CPCA member units cover all passenger vehicle manufacturers, some commercial vehicle manufacturers and most new power enterprises in China.
In this article, CPCA pointed out the reason for the current shortage of chips for the new energy vehicle: Monopoly. Because large companies monopolize the manufacture of chips, these companies are hoarding goods, and hoarding goods aggravates the shortage of chip supply.
Supply problems still very serious
CPCA pointed out that the current supply problem in the chip market is quite serious, and the world auto market is experiencing severe chip supply problems. The production and sales of the automobile market have fallen by 30% compared to the peak level, and the shortage of automobile chip supply is more complicated than originally expected.
Faced with the problem of insufficient supply of chips, the State Administration for Market Regulation of China has investigated the monopoly of automotive chips. According to its findings, companies such as TSMC should also strictly investigate supply chain problems, improve supply chain transparency, and allow the industry to have a safe supply environment.
CPCA also stated that the insufficient supply of automotive chips has a great social impact. For one, it affects the production process of auto companies, causing huge production and sales losses of hundreds of billions of dollars. This also results in a sharp decline in the income of employees in the automotive industry chain and even unemployment. Therefore, the shortage of chips leads to a series of social problems, which upstream monopolies must self-examine and reflect on.
Is TSMC the monopolist?
CPCA said that TSMC’s chip foundry position is extremely dominant. The supply of its chips determines the supply of downstream packaging and testing, while TSMC’s automotive chip production only accounts for 3% of its chips, so the scale of production and sales is small.
TSMC doesn’t think this is their own problem either.
According to Taiwan’s “Economic Daily” report, TSMC Chairman Liu Deyin pointed out in an exclusive interview with “TIME” that TSMC is actively helping to improve the global chip shortage situation. They work with various data to understand the true needs of customers, and they also observed the car chip supply chain, there must be someone hoarding chips.
And this is the first time that Liu Deyin clearly talked about the issue of stockpiling in the automotive chip supply chain in an exclusive interview.
Why did Liu Deyin come to such a conclusion?
In this interview, Liu Deyin said that in the global chip shortage, the number of chips sent to the factory is more than that used in products, which means that there must be someone hoarding chips in the supply chain.
But which manufacturer is hoarding chips and is unwilling to release them to the market? Liu Deyin did not disclose more information. Liu Deyin only emphasized the current shortage of chips is not TSMC’s problem. Obviously, in order to avoid offending some companies, he chose to keep some of the information.
source：CPCA WeChat official account
We’re not going to point out the inherent conflict of interest in a Chinese government organization putting the blame on a Taiwanese company, here?
In keeping with standard journalistic practice for introducing acronyms:
TSMC is the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
CPCA is the China Passenger Car Association….
“…. the insufficient supply of automotive chips has a great social impact.”
Not to speak of the enormous global economy impact. But that doesn’t justify the world invading the little island. 🙁