Chip supply relief coming in 2024 when wafer plants open

Alerts issued this month are pointing to chip supply issues being possibly resolved only when new factories become operational in 2024. Volkswagen this week said chip supply woes would continue until 2024, and the carmaker isn't alone. Research firm Techcet this month warned demand for silicon wafers – the blank canvases on …

[eldakka]

Nice. So now we've moved the bottleneck to the mining and refining of the raw materials (sand/silica plus various additives)? What's the capacity there look like, is it increasing to support this future demand increase for wafers?

[cyberdemon]

Er, I don't think we'll be running out of sand any time soon.. (seems as if you forgot the joke icon)

But it's the stuff a bit higher up the technological house of cards thats in trouble. Like machines that make the silicon crystals and cut them into wafers. That's some pretty precision engineering that takes a while to scale up, even in normal economic and political times..

[1752]

Mr Creosote

Look - I couldn't eat another thing. I'm absolutely stuffed. Bugger off.

[TRT]

Re: Mr Creosote

Bucket.

[cyberdemon]

How long does it take to grow a silicon crystal?

As title: How long does it take after the plant has opened, before you actually have a crystal big enough to turn into wafers?

I should imagine it's a process that cannot be rushed, and does not like to have any perturbations in temperature in the meantime, which may be caused by, er, power outages etc.

[TRT]

Re: How long does it take to grow a silicon crystal?

Dunno. Bulgarian airrbags seem to spring up overnight.