Is any chip shortage/factory delays/etc affecting EE equipment? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: MathWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 03:52:23 am
content: I've heard that the car industry is having delays and/or shortages in their chip supplies, and I know the high-end graphics card and high end CPU market is being affected, by among other things(miners/scalpers/maybe price rigging?), all the delays/shortages/etc.Any EE stuff affected? What about consumer electronics like TV's, phones?

author: boB
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 04:01:03 am
content: We manufacture electronics for alternative and renewable energy and we are having trouble getting various microcontrollers, electrolytic capacitors and even some resistors. Everybody is experiencing shortages and long lead times.One processor we use, an NXP ARM controller we are buying 3000 of for almost 4 times the usual price just so we don't have to shut down for a week or two this coming fall.It's awful !

author: station240
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 05:34:25 am
content: Heard of people in the US having trouble buying particular brands of printers.Tesla shutdown one of their production lines (that makes Model S&X) to re-tool for improvements, can't restart due to semiconductor supply issues.I needed two TI voltage regulators to fix my TV, had to order them from LCSC as not even TI themselves had them in stock.Real problems sourcing NXP and STMicro parts, stuff is either available or available for order (arrives in a year or so).I've got some prototypes I don't even want to order the PCBs for, as even if I can get the parts now, who knows what the status will be when I want to make 30 of.

author: MathWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 08:56:56 pm
content: So lots of stuff has backed up. I'm glad I got my main EE equipment last spring.But I really wish I had have saved a little longer for a rtx2080, instead of a rtx2070. I have a few games that I can't get over 100FPS, and I hate turning down the graphics settings

author: PwrElectronics
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 11:23:22 pm
content: My employer industry is a subset of automotive. Heavy duty construction/farming/off-road. We use mostly infineon micros and much discussion in project teams about should we use this one or that one or the new one on new projects based on short term (1-2yr) availability. I get sent deviations, etc all the time to allow purchasing to sub parts they can find to keep production going. Our volumes are a lot less than mainstream automotive so we are not the front of the line on allocation. Picking parts based on what is more available right now is pretty annoying to me as our development cycles are often 2yrs+ from concept to production due to all the extensive testing, etc. By production, the shortage issue could be over.... I am glad I don't work with the cab screen/display products as those are constantly churning revisions as the suppliers obsolete the key parts so often. Our stuff is expected to be out in the field for decades so service parts stock is a issue.

author: jayk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2021, 12:43:04 am
content: Had a meeting with our Xilinx reps yesterday and they told us most of the smaller parts (i.e. Spartan/Artix and even some Kintex) are looking at 52-week lead-times at this point. Apparently the higher-end parts (US/US+) aren't so bad yet. Not sure about the lower-end Zynqs.

author: station240
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 16, 2021, 02:52:49 am
content: I completely forgot about this one.Australias NBN was supposed to be a total rebuild, but a change of government undid all that.Hence the "only good for scrap" copper/HFC networks where rebuilt for more money than doing it properly.So yeah, shortage of chips for HFC modems as most of the world have moved on.https://www.nbnco.com.au/utility/global-supply-shortage-impacting-nbn-HFC-connections

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2021, 09:30:03 pm
content: I discovered yesterday that due to the current demand, Rochester Electronics are only taking orders for full reels or reel-ends:"Due to our warehouse being etremely busiy(sic), I have had to quote full reels or qty remaining on partial reel."