What is silicon, and what are its uses?
Silicon is a material that is easily available on Earth. It is very useful to make microchips since it is an excellent semiconductor. Microchips are the brains of all computers found in cars, mobiles, tablets, etc.
Why is there a shortage of silicon?
Lockdowns because of COVID-19 shut down factories that make microchips. While supply was less, demand for electronics increased due to people working from home, students attending online classes, etc.
Since people were staying at home due to COVID-19, many car factories cancelled the orders of their microchips. So, microchip factories changed their tools to make microchips for electronics. But when the demand for cars increased again, there was a shortage of microchips.
There are only a few factories in the world where microchips are made. This is because making microchips is very difficult. These factories had to reduce or stop production due to accidents or bad weather. Due to these reasons, microchip factories were unable to meet the demand for microchips, leading to a shortage.
What is the impact of silicon shortage?
There is a very high demand for microchips, but supply is quite less. This means that electronics will get more expensive. Many companies cannot sell products due to less supply of microchips.
Countries across the world are setting up new microchip factories to help fight the shortage. Experts think that the microchip shortage will end by 2023 when supply is the same as demand.
