For how long will they use the semiconductor shortage as an excuse? I’ve been hearing it for a year now. I don’t get it.
It’s not an excuse, it’s very real. I can’t remember the exact number, but there are less than a handful of major production plants for semiconductor chips in the world. A few of them had to close during the pandemic and one in the USA was wiped out by, if I recall correctly, a fire.
During the pandemic, car production almost stopped and demand for mobile devices (phones, tablets etc) went through the roof as so many people worked from home or were just spending more time at home. Car manufacturers use older chips whereas mobile / tablet manufacturers use the latest chips, which are significantly more expensive and more profitable. Consequently. the remaining semiconductor manufacturers switched the emphasis of their production lines to these. Production of the cheaper, less profitable chips used in cars dried up and when the car manufacturers eventually cranked production up again there was a major supply shortage of the chips that they use.
The chip manufacturers have stuck with where the money is and haven’t rushed to switch their production back to those used in cars so, whilst there is supply now, it is not meeting demand. Ford, as just one example, have had to cancel the manufacture of several million cars. Industry experts see this problem extending into 2022.