Published :5/18/2021 3:16:59 PM
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Yesterday, ST Microelectronics (ST) suddenly issued a notice, informing customers that it will increase the price of all products from June 1. This is also the second increase of STMicroelectronics after the price increase on January 1 this year.
According to ST’s announcement, the current semiconductor shortage crisis is seriously threatening the entire industry, economy, society and the environment. Among them, the increase in the supply cost of raw materials is the main reason for this round of price increases.
Previously in December 2020, ST was affected by the global epidemic and the shortage of semiconductor wafer foundry capacity. The supply of many raw materials was tight, which caused the company's production costs to increase significantly. Therefore, ST decided to increase all product lines from January 1, 2021. s price.
This round of price increases is STMicroelectronics’ second round of increases this year. In addition to continuing to be affected by the shortage of raw materials, it also indicates that the recent semiconductor supply chain recovery is not optimistic.
At present, the global semiconductor production capacity is in short supply. The industry generally expects that the capacity shortage will continue until 2022 or 2023. For example, Taiwan UMC’s semiconductor equipment delivery period has generally reached 14-18 months, and its investment capacity has been planned to 2023.
To solve the problem of current capacity shortages, large-scale investment in mature manufacturing processes is required. However, considering the rate of return on investment, many companies have many concerns about investing in the current mature production lines. This is why they know that 8-inch wafer capacity is in short supply, but few Some companies choose to invest in expansion. This is not a problem of the industry cycle, but a structural problem.
However, many semiconductor manufacturers in mainland China and Taiwan have chosen to build new 12-inch wafer fabs. For example, SMIC announced the construction of a 12-inch wafer fab, which is expected to start production in 2022, with a monthly production capacity of 40,000 wafers. In addition, there are also TSMC, Power Semiconductor Manufacturing, Nan Yake, Winbond Electronics, Zhongxin Wafer, Zhonghuan, etc., all have plans to build 12-inch wafer fabs, but it generally takes 1-2 years from planning to production. .
Coupled with the recent outbreak of the epidemic in India, the global semiconductor raw material supply chain has been hit again, resulting in a further increase in raw material costs. In addition, Taiwan has also been seriously threatened by the epidemic in recent days. TSMC, MediaTek, Realtek and other major semiconductor manufacturers have begun to announce measures to strengthen epidemic control.
Once Taiwan's semiconductors are hit by the epidemic, leading semiconductor manufacturers to suspend operations or reduce production, it will be another new crisis for the global market.
It is understood that the current MCU quotation of STM is close to 100 yuan, an increase of more than 10 times, and downstream manufacturers have also suffered greatly. After this round of adjustments, MCU prices are expected to rise.
Faced with such a high price, in addition to the price-insensitive industrial electronics industry, many consumer electronics are moving closer to domestically-made MCUs.
