US tech giants have formed the Semiconductors in America Coalition (SIAC) to encourage semiconductor manufacture in the US as shortages reign.
The coalition is formed of the Semiconductor Industry Association (including AMD, NVidia, IBM, Intel, Samsung, and more); along with Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Cisco Systems, General Electric, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Microsoft, and Verizon.
In their statement, SIAC explain they are calling on US congress men and women to appropriate $50 billion USD “for domestic chip manufacturing incentives and research initiatives.” The Coalition also seeks to advance federal policies that will promote US semiconductor manufacture and research.
The “CHIPS for America Act” was enacted earlier in 2021 authorized the initiatives; but did not fund them. Despite US President Joe Biden’s call in March for $50 billion USD in funding (as the Semiconductor Industry Association had previously praised), SIAC sent a letter to congress asking for support to fully fund it. SIAC also issued a going statement from all involved.
“The current shortage of semiconductors is impacting a broad range of industries throughout the economy. To address this problem in the short term, government should refrain from intervening as industry works to correct the current supply-demand imbalance causing the shortage. But for the longer term, robust funding of the CHIPS Act would help America build the additional capacity necessary to have more resilient supply chains to ensure critical technologies will be there when we need them.”
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and subsequent quarantine orders, there has been a shortage of semiconductors. As discussed in our editorial, this and other factors has caused the prices of graphics cards to increase.
In addition, all three of the major console manufacturers suffered or are continuing to suffer shortages. This was most notable with the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S- leading to scalping and stores even relying on lotteries to give away the chance of a purchase.
Sony chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki reportedly told analysts during a private briefing that they expected PlayStation 5 shortages until 2022, while Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood stated the Xbox Series X|S shortages until at least June 2021.
Sources claimed Nintendo had increased production of the Nintendo Switch back in April 2020 to stop its shortages, but their confidence waned in May 2011. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa stated “We have been able to secure the necessary materials for the immediate production of semiconductors for switches. However, in Japan and other countries, demand has been very strong since the beginning of the year, and there is a possibility of shortages at some retailers in the future.”
“It is difficult to say how we will deal with this, but in some cases we may not be able to prepare enough for orders,” Furukawa stated when speaking to Nikkei (via VGC).
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Image: Semiconductors in America Coalition official website, Twitter
