The global chip shortage problem has spread from the electronics and automotive industries to the home appliance industry. Foreign media reports pointed out that due to the continued phenomenon of some companies rushing to stock up chips, coupled with the exclusion of chip production capacity, after the production of automobiles and mobile phones was blocked, the shortage of low-margin chips for home appliances such as bread machines and washing machines has become more and more serious...

Home appliance chip shortage, TV Q2 prices increased by an average of 10%

Foreign media pointed out that because chip manufacturers prioritized the production of high-margin products, resulting in a crowding out effect for low-margin chips and processors such as washing machines or toasters.

When it comes to home appliances, the price trajectory of TVs is worthy of reference. It is understood that the price of TV panels has risen for one year in a row. In the near future, terminal brand factories have lost to cost pressures, and they have followed up to raise TV prices. Although the shopping season during the May 1st holiday is approaching, the price of TVs sold in the market in the second quarter increased by 10% on average, reflecting that the panel rally has spread to the downstream end market.

In short, as the shortage of chips for home appliances prolongs, manufacturers of home appliances have to pay higher prices to obtain key components, which may increase the cost. Most of the raised costs will be "paid" by consumers.

Huawei Xu Zhijun: Manufacturers rush to stock up chips to exacerbate supply chain imbalances

Due to the rapid development of the domestic economy under the new crown epidemic, the global demand for equipment and service electronic products such as laptops, smartphones, and cloud computing has surged, making the supply of chips tight. Coupled with the massive stockpiling of goods by some manufacturers, it is more difficult for suppliers to obtain chips for home appliances such as washing machines.

Earlier this month, Xu Zhijun, vice chairman of Huawei, said frankly that as China's technology industry is worried that the United States will impose new sanctions, it is actively stocking up and preparing for the worst. Huawei's telecommunications equipment is a consumer electronics product that uses a lot of chips, and the company is still trying to stock up to reduce the impact of U.S. export controls.

"Now (Chinese manufacturers) stockpiling goods for one month, three months, or even six months, the whole system is impacted by the use of safety stocks." According to Chinese customs data, China's semiconductor imports soared 15% last year. In March this year, China Semiconductor imports broke an unprecedented record of $35.9 billion.

Samsung rumored to cut orders for mobile phone chips

The "chip shortage" also puts pressure on Samsung Electronics. Two Samsung suppliers said that Samsung began to cut some orders for mobile phone chips this month. The manufacturer revealed: "Application processors, display driver ICs, and camera image sensors are all in tight supply. In view of this, after Samsung's order reduction this quarter, a temporary decline in sales is inevitable, but we expect the situation to improve from June."

Regarding the case of cutting single mobile phone chips, Samsung warned last month that the shortage of chips may impact mobile phone production.

Bloomberg reported in March that Samsung Electronics executives warned that a serious imbalance in chip supply and demand could hit mobile phone production, and the new Galaxy Note flagship may not be released in the second half of this year. Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung's mobile business, said at the annual general meeting of shareholders that "the supply and demand of chips in the global IT industry is seriously unbalanced. Although the situation is serious, although the company has discussed with overseas partners to solve the problem, it is difficult to say that the chip shortage has been 100% resolved."