US Commerce Department expects sensor shortage to last til end 2022

Engadget reports:

Don’t expect the worldwide chip shortage to end any time soon. Bloomberg and The Washington Post note the US Commerce Department has published a semiconductor supply chain report estimating that the global shortage will last until at least the second half of 2022. “We aren’t even close to being out of the woods” with supply problems, Department Secretary Gina Raimondo said.

Many companies are particularly sensitive to problems, too. The median chip inventory for a client company plunged from 40 days in 2019 to under five days in 2021. Even a relatively short (weeks-long) disruption overseas could shut down an American factory, the Department said.

Officials concluded the government couldn’t directly end the shortage. Private companies were “best positioned” to overcome challenges by increasing production, optimizing their designs and limiting the impact on their supply chains.