Appendix

Shortage of semiconductors is a worldwide problem for all businesses using these components in their production. The current shortage is the result of a wide range of factors creating the perfect storm.
 
The semiconductor industry is dominated by a few large vendors, providing different industries with components. Production is largely based in Taiwan, Japan, USA, South Korea and China. The global semiconductor supply chain is relatively fragile, prone to disruptions from natural and man-made shocks. The supply of semiconductors cannot be turned on and off with a switch. Multibillion-dollar wafer fabrication plants are finely tuned and run 24/7, 365 days a year. Changing the production line for a new chip product can take significant time and adding significant new wafer fabrication capacity can take years.
 
These are some of the main reasons for the lack of global supply of semiconductors:  
 

• Stockpiling from Huawei and other Chinese manufacturers based on the US / China Tech war. Huawei blames US for global chip supply crunch - Nikkei Asia
• Covid-19 pandemic surged demand for consumer electronics like laptops, video game consoles and smartphones as people around the world needed to find new ways to work and play.
• The car industry’s faster-than-anticipated bounce back after factory shutdowns.
• US Semiconductor industry and production was hit by missing power supply during the abnormal winterstorms in Texas (Samsung and TI) Texas winter storm blackouts hit chip production | Financial Times (ft.com)
• Taiwans Chip production is threatened by drought and missing water supply, as chip manufacturing uses large amounts of water  Taiwan’s worst drought in decades adds pressure to global chip shortage | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)
• The value of cryptocurrencies has reignited mining profitability, piling on demand for various high-end processing components.
• Japans largest producer Renesas was hit by a electric started fire at the factory, setting out 26 production machines and production facilities. Notice Regarding the Semiconductor Manufacturing Factory (Naka Factory) Fire (Summary of Updates) | Renesas

 
Konica Minolta has based a major part of the supply on microchips from Texas Instruments and Renesas, both vendors suffering from production interruptions and a general surge in demand from the market.
Shortage of semiconductors is a worldwide problem for all businesses using these components in their production. The current shortage is the result of a wide range of factors creating the perfect storm.
 
The semiconductor industry is dominated by a few large vendors, providing different industries with components. Production is largely based in Taiwan, Japan, USA, South Korea and China. The global semiconductor supply chain is relatively fragile, prone to disruptions from natural and man-made shocks. The supply of semiconductors cannot be turned on and off with a switch. Multibillion-dollar wafer fabrication plants are finely tuned and run 24/7, 365 days a year. Changing the production line for a new chip product can take significant time and adding significant new wafer fabrication capacity can take years.
 
These are some of the main reasons for the lack of global supply of semiconductors:  
 

• Stockpiling from Huawei and other Chinese manufacturers based on the US / China Tech war. Huawei blames US for global chip supply crunch - Nikkei Asia
• Covid-19 pandemic surged demand for consumer electronics like laptops, video game consoles and smartphones as people around the world needed to find new ways to work and play.
• The car industry’s faster-than-anticipated bounce back after factory shutdowns.
• US Semiconductor industry and production was hit by missing power supply during the abnormal winterstorms in Texas (Samsung and TI) Texas winter storm blackouts hit chip production | Financial Times (ft.com)
• Taiwans Chip production is threatened by drought and missing water supply, as chip manufacturing uses large amounts of water  Taiwan’s worst drought in decades adds pressure to global chip shortage | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)
• The value of cryptocurrencies has reignited mining profitability, piling on demand for various high-end processing components.
• Japans largest producer Renesas was hit by a electric started fire at the factory, setting out 26 production machines and production facilities. Notice Regarding the Semiconductor Manufacturing Factory (Naka Factory) Fire (Summary of Updates) | Renesas

 
Konica Minolta has based a major part of the supply on microchips from Texas Instruments and Renesas, both vendors suffering from production interruptions and a general surge in demand from the market.