“We will see bottlenecks in semiconductors that we obtain from contract manufacturers, for example in the area of microcontrollers and connectivity, into the coming year,” Hanebeck told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Tuesday.
If he looks a little further into the future, then it is even “very likely that the next shortage of power semiconductors will soon be around the corner”. The strong demand in electromobility and renewable energies come together, said Hanebeck, who has been CEO of Infineon since April. “We’re stepping on the accelerator and expanding capacity, but it’s uncertain whether we’ll be able to meet the high demand.”
The worsening of the conflict over Taiwan also worries him, said the Infineon boss. “In recent years, during the semiconductor crisis, we have noticed what it means when the manufacturers in Taiwan cannot supply enough chips. However, if chips were to stop coming from Taiwan at all, it would have a profound impact on all sectors of the economy, worldwide. “
Depends on Taiwan and Russia
Europe is even more dependent on semiconductors from Taiwan than on energy from Russia, Hanebeck said. “For very sophisticated semiconductor products, such as processors for smartphones and the latest generation of microcontrollers for automotive applications, the dependency is very high.” There is no way to replace this production elsewhere on the necessary scale in the next five to ten years.
Source: Nachrichten
