At the national level, there has been attention paid to this. On August 3rd, the State Administration for Market Regulation stated that based on price monitoring and reporting clues, it has recently launched an investigation into automobile chip distribution companies suspected of inflating prices. Next, we will continue to pay attention to the market price order of important commodities such as chips, further increase regulatory and law enforcement efforts, and strictly investigate and punish illegal activities such as hoarding, price manipulation, and collusion in price increases. Affected by this news, on the afternoon of the 3rd, automotive chip concept stocks fell sharply, with stocks such as Zhaoyi Innovation, Li'ang Microelectronics, and Xinjieneng hitting the limit down.

it's too hard! Stock up and speculation: the other side of chip shortage? (Figure 1)

Raw materials: The upward trend in prices has been curbed, and prices are still at a high level

At the beginning, we requested discounts from suppliers, and most of them were willing to cooperate. However, later on, some manufacturers began to refuse discounts. We need to constantly develop new manufacturers to meet the company's cost control requirements. "Xie Ling said that end customers have a short cycle for electronic products, with prices decreasing every three months, let alone increasing.

The country has taken multiple measures to stabilize raw material prices. Starting from late May, it has held consecutive meetings and made special arrangements, requiring multiple measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises cope with the impact of rising raw material prices. To stabilize commodity prices, relevant departments have released national reserves of copper, aluminum, and zinc. Starting from August 1st, the export tariffs on ferrochrome and high-purity pig iron will be appropriately increased, and the adjusted export tax rates of 40% and 20% will be implemented respectively. Export tax rebates for some steel products will be cancelled, and the export tax rebates for the vast majority of steel products have been reduced to zero. At present, the price difference between high carbon steel at home and abroad has reached about 40%, so it is necessary to control exports. Let's see if the price can be lowered a bit, "Xie Ling said.

Some small and medium-sized factories have stopped production due to stock shortages

Even with money, you can't buy it. "He described the current shortage of some MCUs in this way. The domestically produced HC32L110C6UA-SFN20 used to cost over 2 yuan, but now it ranges from 6 yuan to 14 yuan; The imported STM8L152R8T6 LQFP64 was only a few yuan last year, but now it has been sold for over 100 yuan and is still out of stock.

2500 per week is far from enough to meet the production capacity requirements of his factory. We need to use 2500 units a day. We had a lot of stock at the end of last year, and now we still have some inventory. If we run out of stock, we will have to stop production, "Mr. Xiao said helplessly.

Except for the most severely out of stock MCU, the scope of this shortage actually covers the entire electronics industry, and the price increase has basically covered every component. Our equipment has over 2000 components, all of which are indispensable. Some components are out of stock, while others have increased prices too much, which has a huge impact on our industry, "Mr. Li, who is engaged in the manufacturing of automation equipment, told reporters.

Those who have connections and authority in the original factory have made a fortune, "Mr. Xiao said.

Our demand is relatively stable. Previously, receiving goods was always settled on a monthly basis. Now, we pay first and distribute the goods to the distributors before sending them to us. This is more advantageous for distributors as they have the money in hand and don't have to worry about no one taking the goods in the end, "said a purchasing staff member from a Bluetooth speaker manufacturer in Bao'an District.

This actually causes great harm to brand manufacturers, creating an impression in the market of unstable supply, lax control, and arbitrary pricing. Once market supply and demand return to normal, brands with significant price fluctuations may be abandoned by some end manufacturers, "said the aforementioned industry insider.

It is worth mentioning that under the panic of supply and demand imbalance, many terminal manufacturers have also joined the ranks of hoarding chips. "However, it was all at the end of last year, and now we are not hoarding enough quantity and cannot afford to hoard at the same price," said the industry insider.

At present, there is still no sign of improvement in this scarce situation.

On July 22nd, another MCU manufacturer, Lingtong, announced that orders will continue to be strong in the second half of the year. Jia Yixing, General Manager of Lingtong, stated that in 2021, almost all IC design factories experienced an order to shipment ratio greater than 1, and Lingtong was no exception. He predicts that the tight production capacity of wafer foundry and packaging testing will not change in the second half of the year and may continue until next year.

The current serious imbalance between supply and demand of chips is the result of a combination of various factors, such as rising prices of upstream raw material silicon for chips, insufficient supply of semiconductor equipment, limited wafer production capacity, and a significant increase in demand, which may be difficult to solve in the short term. The increase in material prices and supply shortages pose huge challenges for enterprises. It is hoped that relevant departments can introduce assistance policies to help enterprises overcome this difficult time together.