Japanese chipmaker Rohm´s CEO Isao Matsumoto expects the company to fulfill its backlog of semiconductor chip orders only by 2022.
The chipmaker said that despite working at full capacity, the demand for chips continues to outpace supply, making it difficult for the company to complete orders on time, according to media reports. Still, Rohm expects to increase its Americas sales by 12.24pc in Q3 compared to the previous quarter. Matsumoto anticipated production levels could be resumed gradually by 2023.
More than 40pc of the Kyoto-headquartered chipmaker’s business comes from producing and selling integrated circuits (IC) and makes around 80pc of the ICs for the automotive sector making it one of the largest microchips manufacturers for the automotive industry.
Semiconductor chips have been in short supply since the beginning of the year and other chip manufacturers like Infineon Technologies have also warned that supply chain shortages may persist longer than estimated.
According to data from a recent Boston Consulting Group – Semiconductor Industry Association report, delivery times for chips are at over 20 weeks, as the COVID-19 delta variant prevents resuming operations from Japan to Southeast Asia. East Asia is home to three-quarters of global chip capacity.
The current supply bottleneck is also driving prices to record highs. For example, per reports, in the US the average price paid for a new car in July was $42,736, while the average used car price in July rose to $25,500.