The entire “computer on wheels” concept, which was essentially pioneered by Tesla, has now become the industry norm. Porsche fully anticipates that number to double or possibly treble by the end of this decade. The Porsche Taycan, for example, has more than 8000 computer chip components baked in at the manufacture.
The supply chain disruptions brought on by the Covid epidemic have prompted a fundamental shift in both businesses. A few years ago, the vehicle makers considered those chip companies like poor relatives. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. CEO C.C. Wei tells Reuters that prior to the severe shortage, he had never received a call from an executive in the auto business.
He recently told a laughing crowd of TSMC partners and customers in Silicon Valley that they have been calling me and acting like my best friends for the past two years. According to Wei, who is used to filling orders for 25,000 wafers, one automaker called and urgently requested 25 wafers. It makes sense why you can’t receive assistance.
The CEO of GlobalFoundries, Thomas Caulfield, claims that the auto industry is aware that it can no longer entrust the computer chip business with the danger of constructing multi-billion dollar semiconductor facilities. He tells Reuters that one aspect of the industry cannot carry the weight for the rest of it. If a customer isn’t committed to it and doesn’t have control over the capacity, we won’t turn it on.
According to AutoForecast Solutions (AFS), since the beginning of 2021, computer chip shortages have compelled automakers all over the world to reduce their planned production of roughly 13 million vehicles. Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AFS, calls the industry arrogant and criticizes traditional automakers who are accustomed to issuing orders and having the chipmakers jump into action to fulfill them. Sometimes it just comes back to bite them.
FROM PARTNERS TO SUPPLIERS Many semiconductor executives blame automakers for a sizable portion of the recent computer chip supply chain problems on their inability to comprehend how the chip supply chain functions and their refusal to share cost and risk.
However, things are evolving. Ford just revealed that it will cooperate with GlobalFoundries to guarantee its chip supply. The president of GlobalFoundries’ automotive division, Mike Hogan, stated that additional agreements with other automakers are in the works. According to CEO Thomas Sonderman of Minnesota’s SkyWater Technology Inc., automakers are interested in putting money into the game by purchasing machinery or funding R
