Chip shortages affecting Qualcomm's ability to produce Android processors
Qualcomm is reportedly struggling to meet demand for processor silicon used in Android devices as a global chip shortage spreads across the electronics industry.
Credit: Qualcomm
Demand for Qualcomm chips have soared in 2021 as Android makers close in on market share left by Huawei in the wake of U.S. sanctions. However, Qualcomm is finding it hard to meet the demand, partly because of a shortage of subcomponents used in its application processors.
Because of that, Samsung is currently experiencing a shortage of Snapdragon chips, according to Reuters. That could impact production of mid- and low-end Samsung models, though another source said there was also supply concerns surrounding Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 888 processor.
A senior executive at a top contract manufacturer for several major smartphone brands told Reuters it is also facing shortages of critical components from Qualcomm, and could cut handset shipments in 2021.
The global processor shortage has been ongoing for several months. It first hit the automotive industry and has now spread to the consumer electronics market. In February, Xiaomi vice president Lu Weibing said that the situation is "not a shortage, it's an extreme shortage."
Back in February, President Joe Biden took steps to boost the U.S. manufacturing of silicon to strengthen the international supply chain and mitigate the global shortages.
For the most part, the supply situation is only affected Qualcomm's older processor technologies because it's currently directing resources toward newer silicon options. The shortage is also driving up the price of specific chip components.
At this point, Qualcomm's supply troubles will likely have little effect on Apple. Although the Cupertino tech giant uses Qualcomm modems in its iPhone lineup, it designs and develops its own A-series chips that are produced by third-party contract manufacturer TSMC.
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Credit: Qualcomm
Demand for Qualcomm chips have soared in 2021 as Android makers close in on market share left by Huawei in the wake of U.S. sanctions. However, Qualcomm is finding it hard to meet the demand, partly because of a shortage of subcomponents used in its application processors.
Because of that, Samsung is currently experiencing a shortage of Snapdragon chips, according to Reuters. That could impact production of mid- and low-end Samsung models, though another source said there was also supply concerns surrounding Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 888 processor.
A senior executive at a top contract manufacturer for several major smartphone brands told Reuters it is also facing shortages of critical components from Qualcomm, and could cut handset shipments in 2021.
The global processor shortage has been ongoing for several months. It first hit the automotive industry and has now spread to the consumer electronics market. In February, Xiaomi vice president Lu Weibing said that the situation is "not a shortage, it's an extreme shortage."
Back in February, President Joe Biden took steps to boost the U.S. manufacturing of silicon to strengthen the international supply chain and mitigate the global shortages.
For the most part, the supply situation is only affected Qualcomm's older processor technologies because it's currently directing resources toward newer silicon options. The shortage is also driving up the price of specific chip components.
At this point, Qualcomm's supply troubles will likely have little effect on Apple. Although the Cupertino tech giant uses Qualcomm modems in its iPhone lineup, it designs and develops its own A-series chips that are produced by third-party contract manufacturer TSMC.
Stay on top of the latest Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a quick update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
https://techpinions.com/chip-shortages-and-foundry-monopolies/60497
"This was always something Broadcom did well. I recall many conversations with their executives who were proud of the fact their chip design libraries were portable, and they could make them at whatever foundry they saw fit. Qualcomm is similarly executing a dual-source foundry strategy as they have versions of the same chipsets made at both TSMC and Samsung.
Companies that dual-source will be extremely well-positioned to weather a number of different storms that could come their way. From the geopolitical that I have outlined before, national economic issues, global catastrophes, etc. While this isn’t discussed as much publicly for obvious reasons, it is top of mind for many executives in the supply chain and those whose companies make products via semiconductor foundries."
I remember when Apple used TSMC and Samsung for production of the same A9 SOC. The response from the tech community was to compare and contrast the versions. I can see why Apple will never do that again.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/samsung-vs-tsmc-comparing-the-battery-life-of-two-apple-a9s/
"And that's just what some iPhone 6S and 6S Plus buyers have run into. Using an app that has since been pulled from the App Store, some users were able to determine which chip individual iPhones were using and found that the phones with Samsung chips had significantly lower battery life than the phones with TSMC chips in certain tests. The findings got enough attention that Apple offered a rare comment on the situation, claiming that the test being used wasn't representative of actual use and that in "real-world usage" the difference between iPhone models with any combination of components was no more than 2 to 3 percent."
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/mar/12/ioc-under-fire-after-dismissing-claims-of-genocide-against-uighurs-in-china
I can see a Winter Olympics boycott on the horizon...yet you still ignore what is happening to the Uighurs, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Fortunately, the rest of the world is not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide
And
根据2015年底人口抽查统计 [189]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang#Vital_statistics
https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/the-human-costs-of-controlling-xinjiang/
and population controls;
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/01/china-documents-uighur-genocidal-sterilization-xinjiang/
It all adds up to Genocide, according to the U.N.
Then of course, there is the forced labor and imprisonment;
https://www.axios.com/xinjiang-forced-labor-uyghurs-a3b58b6e-c98f-4ce4-ae52-7b4a37fa61f5.html
"Why it matters: Xinjiang products are deeply integrated into lucrative supply chains around the world. The Chinese Communist Party's official embrace of coerced labor will force Western governments and institutions to choose between pleasing business leaders or enforcing universal human rights values."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-xinjiang/u-s-says-no-change-in-its-genocide-determination-for-chinas-xinjiang-idUSKBN2B12LG
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has not seen any developments that would change its determination that China committed genocide and crimes against humanity in its treatment of Uighur Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday.
“We have seen nothing that would change our assessment,” Price said. The Biden administration has endorsed a last-minute determination by the Trump administration that China has committed genocide in Xinjiang. Beijing denies the charges."
Neither you not tzeshan have been able to produce any information denying that it happened, which is par for the course, but given that the PRC will not allow any independent investigation, this is all on the PRC, not the U.S.
But Xi's China poses a very real and direct threat to the national security of the United States, especially because Xi's China currently seems to be on a path towards an unfriendly and unwelcome takeover of Taiwan. It makes a great deal of sense for the US to ensure a supply chain for all national security interests -- not just defense, but also vital infrastructure.
Going forward, we need serious, hard-headed, but enlightened trade, foreign, and industrial policy aimed at containing the threat posed by Xi's China. These policies can change if China changes, but otherwise, I think the US needs to be vigilant.
Unfortunately, China also has a need to be vigilant, because the US isn't entirely trustworthy, either. The fact that the US chose Donald Trump as its president makes us less trustworthy. Every other country in the world needs to take seriously the threat that the US might pick someone like Trump again.
Scary times -- the two most powerful countries in the world are not particularly trustworthy. Both have good reason to suspect each other, and everyone else has good reason to suspect both.
You forgot the part about Xi Jinping being either an Authoritarian, or Totalitarian, head of state, but certainly not a follower of the existing rules of order in the world, and I'm guessing "facts and regulation" are at the whim of the CPC, Communist Party of China.
Liberals as myself gave up on China liberalization at the time the Xi Jinping pronounced himself, President for Life. This is 100% on China for maiming, if not killing, the "golden goose" of international trade, not at all on the U.S., which is doubling down on National Security.
I would also note that China is in a very precarious position, with an expected drop in population;
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/dangerous-demographics-chinas-population-problem-will-eclipse-its-ambitions-80961
"China’s seemingly inexorable rise has hit a roadblock: demographics. And despite desperate efforts to reverse the effects of the Communist Party’s one-child policy, experts warn it may be too late to prevent lasting damage. Government researchers have predicted that the world’s largest population will peak at 1.4 billion people in 2029. However, it will then experience an “unstoppable” decline that could see it drop to 1.36 billion by 2050, reducing the workforce by as much as 200 million.
Should fertility rates remain unchanged, then China could even shrink to 1.17 billion people by 2065, according to the China Academy of Social Sciences.
“From a theoretical point of view, the long-term population decline, especially when it is accompanied by a continuously aging population, is bound to cause very unfavorable social and economic consequences,” the report said."
(Here's a hint: wise, caring leadership counts for a lot more than any ideology.)
Bill Maher barely acknowledges human rights violations in Xinjiang, but John Oliver certainly does;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17oCQakzIl8
So, your attempt to "bury the lede" on human rights violations in China, by posting a screed by Bill Maher on comparative economies fails. You probably aren't even cognizant to the fact that the U.S., at a quarter the size of China, is still the leading economy, and will be through the end of the decade. China, for all of its massive construction will also find out that "what you strive to attain, you must also maintain", a huge cost that every country bears for its existing infrastructure.
I gave up watching Bill Maher when I gave up cable and HBO, near twenty years ago. He isn't anything but provocative.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/01/new-chart-shows-china-gdp-could-overtake-us-sooner-as-covid-took-its-toll.html
"“This (divergence in growth) is consistent with our view that the pandemic has been a much larger blow to the US economy than China’s economy,” Rob Subbaraman of Nomura said in an email Friday. “We believe that on reasonable growth projections the size of China’s economy in USD terms will overtake the US in 2028.”
On the other hand, the U.S. and the West's plan for sourcing outside of China will likely delay that date, but I can state as a fact that the U.S. economy is going to grow at a very fast rate in Q3 and Q4 of this year, due to vaccinations.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/02/10percent-gdp-growth-the-us-economy-is-on-fire-and-is-about-to-get-stoked-even-more.html
LOL!
Before you attack an enemy you should probably make sure that they are an enemy. If not, they will be.