Renesas chip foundry fire could harm Apple's supply chain
A fire at chipmaker Renesas could have a considerable impact on semiconductor supplies around the world, with it potentially causing some supply chain issues for Apple alongside major car producers.
The 300nm production line at Renesas' Naka facility
A chip facility in Naka city near Tokyo, Japan caught fire on Friday. The fire, within one of the clean rooms at the plant, halted production of 300mm wafers, as well as damaging 2 percent of the equipment at the facility.
Renesas chief executive Hidetoshi Shibata told a news conference on Sunday "We are concerned that there will be a massive impact on chip supplies," reports the Financial Times. "We will pursue every means possible to minimize the impact."
Japanese producers such as Renesas have worked to diversify their supply chains following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, enabling the production of roughly two-thirds of affected chip lines to be moved to other facilities. However, the ongoing global issues relating to semiconductor production will make it hard to secure any spare capacity from foundries like TSMC.
Apple's products are unlikely to be directly affected by the fire, as the facility is thought to service automotive clients primarily. Renesas is listed as one of Apple's suppliers on the main supplier list, with the facility identified as one of its manufacturing locations working on components for Apple's products.
The increase in strain on other facilities and chip producers may be a bigger factor for Apple in general, given any components sourced from the plant will have to be made elsewhere in the immediate future.
The fire is likely to cost Renesas a hefty amount of revenue. Shibata estimates that a month of downtime to fix the facility will cost the company in the region of 17 billion yen ($156 million) in revenue.
Renesas is also in the process of acquiring Dialog Semiconductor, a UK-based chip producer and major Apple supplier, in a deal valued at 4.9 billion euros ($5.9 billion). It is anticipated that the fire won't cause issues with the acquisition, which is expected to complete by the end of 2021.
The 300nm production line at Renesas' Naka facility
A chip facility in Naka city near Tokyo, Japan caught fire on Friday. The fire, within one of the clean rooms at the plant, halted production of 300mm wafers, as well as damaging 2 percent of the equipment at the facility.
Renesas chief executive Hidetoshi Shibata told a news conference on Sunday "We are concerned that there will be a massive impact on chip supplies," reports the Financial Times. "We will pursue every means possible to minimize the impact."
Japanese producers such as Renesas have worked to diversify their supply chains following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, enabling the production of roughly two-thirds of affected chip lines to be moved to other facilities. However, the ongoing global issues relating to semiconductor production will make it hard to secure any spare capacity from foundries like TSMC.
Apple's products are unlikely to be directly affected by the fire, as the facility is thought to service automotive clients primarily. Renesas is listed as one of Apple's suppliers on the main supplier list, with the facility identified as one of its manufacturing locations working on components for Apple's products.
The increase in strain on other facilities and chip producers may be a bigger factor for Apple in general, given any components sourced from the plant will have to be made elsewhere in the immediate future.
The fire is likely to cost Renesas a hefty amount of revenue. Shibata estimates that a month of downtime to fix the facility will cost the company in the region of 17 billion yen ($156 million) in revenue.
Renesas is also in the process of acquiring Dialog Semiconductor, a UK-based chip producer and major Apple supplier, in a deal valued at 4.9 billion euros ($5.9 billion). It is anticipated that the fire won't cause issues with the acquisition, which is expected to complete by the end of 2021.
Comments
You aren't following news. Biden has already begun addressing it.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/24/biden-signs-executive-order-to-address-chip-shortage-through-a-supply-chain-review.html
It's not just an executive order to "study it".
It's easy to criticize without offering any solution, especially when one is completely ignorant.
What do you propose we do, invade Taiwan and comandeer the factories? Chips are primarily manufactured overseas because of cheap labor and lax regulations. It's not a question of "improv[ing] . . . abilitites to create wafers and chips."
Of course China isn't waiting for politics to get out the way:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32559096/
https://www.gizchina.com/2020/12/24/smic-cant-go-below-10nm-whats-the-way-out-for-chinese-foundries/
The EU, it's GF stalled at 14/12 nm, has a better chance of advancing to 5 nm sooner than China has, due to access to semiconductor processing and EUV lithography equipment. It's really just a question of investment.
Why aren't you pushing that?
I'm not pushing the EU option because the EU is in the West. See the comment I was replying to.
You can blame Trump for shutting down the Chinese chip factories that we rely on. The shortages are mostly in the types of chips that they made. But, we shut down the factories and then whine that we can't buy what they want to sell.
But why were they banned?
The U.S. government restricted American companies from selling to SMIC, citing its ties to the Chinese military.