Semiconductor Shortage Effect Extends Beyond Automotive

While a lot of the interest regarding semiconductor shortages has centered on the automotive sector, different professional and digital sectors are being hit similarly hard by IC source chain disruptions.

According to a study of makers commissioned by computer software vendor Qt Group and carried out by simply Forrester Consulting, the professional machinery and electrical tools segments are hardest hit by the chip shortage. Not far behind will be the IT hardware and computer sectors, having authorized this highest percentage of merchandise development slowdowns.

The poll of 262 embedded device and connected product developers carried out in March found that 60 percent of industrial machinery and electrical equipment makers are now heavily focused on securing IC supply chains. On the other hand, 55 percent of server and computer manufacturers said they are struggling to keep chip supplies.

Semiconductor shortages have forced automakers to shut down production lines in latest weeks. Even now, the automative sector rated in the center of the Forrester survey regarding IC supply chain concentration.

Overall, the survey discovered that nearly two-thirds of suppliers have experienced setbacks in delivering innovative digital products because of silicon supply disruptions. Which has translated into delays in creation rollouts greater than seven months, the survey found.

“Organizations are [now] even more focused on ensuring satisfactory supply” of semiconductors,” Forrester reported. “Consequently, half our study respondents indicate that ensuring an adequate supply of semiconductors and key components components is becoming more important this season.”

Among hard-hit server and computer companies, 71 percent said IC scarcity is slowing product advancement. That’s happening as demand for data centre services like cloud processing and storage will be booming along with streaming video applications for remote personnel.

Among the tips for weathering the current semiconductor shortage are blunting the impact via what Forrester dubs “cross-program frameworks.” That identifies stopgap measures like flexible software equipment that support a good wider variance of silicon, thereby “reducing the effects of critical source chain shortages,” Forrester concludes.

In response to disruptions in the semiconductor pipeline, the marketplace researcher also discovered that eight of ten executives surveyed report they are investing in “cross-device tools and frameworks that support multiple classes of hardware.”

Along with getting services out the door faster, that approach is usually promoted as increasing supply chain overall flexibility while reducing the workload for harried software designers sometimes juggling multiple product models.

Indeed, new product expansion is also suffering from a shortage of creators with the skills necessary to leverage multipurpose application tools. Three-quarters of study respondents said demand for connected equipment is outstripping the supply of qualified developers.

Hence, software suppliers like Qt promote tools like cross-platform computer software libraries for product developers to handle a chip shortage likely to extend through the second half of 2021.

“We’re at a good crunch point in global technology produce and creation,” asserts Marko Kaasila, senior vice president of merchandise management at Qt, which is situated in Helsinki, Finland.