[아이뉴스24 장유미 기자] While some automakers are disrupting production due to a shortage of automotive semiconductor supplies, global foundry (consigned semiconductor production) companies such as Samsung Electronics and Taiwan TSMC are paying attention to what changes they will make to their strategies.
Each company has increased the proportion of semiconductors for IT products such as smartphones and PCs as demand for automobiles has sharply decreased since last year’s Corona 19, while semiconductors for vehicles have gradually reduced the proportion of production due to low margins. However, since the end of last year, automobile demand has recovered faster than expected, and automotive semiconductors have become scarce due to supply and demand mismatch.
According to the industry on the 6th, the governments of major countries such as the United States, Japan, and Germany requested an unusual increase in semiconductor production from the Taiwanese government, where TSMC is located, to solve the problem of supply and demand for semiconductors for vehicles. Major automobile production bases in each country are gradually reducing automobile production due to the collapse of the vehicle semiconductor supply chain.
In fact, from next week, the US automaker General Motors (GM) will reduce production at four factories around the world, including Bupyeong 2 plant in Korea, Fairfax in Kansas, Ingersoll, Ontario in Canada, and Potosi in Mexico. The Bupyeong Plant 2 will operate only 50% from the 8th.
GM Korea said, “Currently, we are working closely with parts makers to find ways to supply and demand semiconductors for parts makers, and to minimize the impact on GM and GM Korea.” Daehan Operation plans to check the situation every week to confirm the production plan and operate it.”
In addition to GM, major automakers announced the decision to cut production one after another. Known places so far are Ford, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, Mazda, and Stellaantis, and each company is frustrated because it cannot obtain semiconductors for vehicles. However, domestic companies such as Hyundai and Kia are not in a position to have a big impact because they have secured the quantity in advance since last year.
As a result, global automobile production is expected to drop sharply in the first quarter of this year. According to market research firm IHS Market, global auto production in the first quarter of this year is expected to decrease by 672,000 units than expected. AutoForcast Solutions estimates that the actual reduction of the automobile industry to date is 564,000 units, and a total of 964,000 units this year will be affected. The industry predicted that the shortage of automotive semiconductors will continue until the third quarter of this year.
An industry insider said, “In some countries where automobiles are the main industry, securing semiconductors, which are key parts of automobiles, is an important issue that depends on the life and death of their own economy. In the automobile industry that requires hundreds of semiconductors, the industry As it can lead to an ecosystem collapse, each automaker has no choice but to take an active step before securing the quantity.”
“Automotive semiconductors are relatively low-margin compared to other industrial semiconductors, so foundry companies have kept their production proportions low. Even TSMC, the industry’s No. 1 semiconductor, accounts for only 3% of the total sales, and companies produce related products right now. It is also not easy to increase production by expanding lines,” he added.
Currently, automotive semiconductors such as microcontroller units (MCU), power management chips, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are made in an 8-inch wafer process. However, the production lines of major companies such as Samsung Electronics are focusing on producing high-value-added products such as central processing unit (CPU) and graphic processing unit (GPU) in a highly profitable 12-inch process. Accordingly, it is not easy for foundry companies to expand the 8-inch production line immediately or to produce semiconductors for vehicles in the 12-inch process because the profitability is not suitable.
An industry insider said, “In order to solve the shortage of semiconductor supply for vehicles, it is an urgent need to increase the production line for 8-inch wafer processing.” However, from the perspective of semiconductor companies, the added value is relatively lower than 12-inch wafers. It has no choice but to be passive,” he explained.
Once requested by major national governments, Taiwan plans to hold a videoconference with the US in the near future to discuss the automotive semiconductor supply chain. It is reported that the German government recently requested help with the purchase of the Corona 19 vaccine in exchange for semiconductor production increase. In this atmosphere, TSMC is reported to be considering an increase in automotive semiconductor prices by up to 15%.
An industry insider said, “As the war to secure semiconductors for vehicles becomes fierce, Taiwan’s diplomatic status, which puts semiconductor power at the fore, is expected to increase further.” There is a need.”
Domestic semiconductor companies have not paid much attention to automotive semiconductors. Samsung Electronics, second in the foundry industry, is also in the 24th place in terms of sales share in the automotive semiconductor market. Accordingly, the domestic automaker’s dependence on vehicle semiconductors abroad is also quite high.
In the automotive semiconductor market, NXP and German Infineon are competing for the first and second place with 21% and 19%, respectively, and Renesas (15%), TI (14%) and ST Micro (13%) are ranked fifth. . However, as electric, electronic and IT companies entered the automotive semiconductor business, the market share of the automotive semiconductor market of the five major companies decreased from 73% in 2017 to 49% in 2019. The overall automotive semiconductor market is expected to grow rapidly from $41.8 billion in 2019 to $55.3 billion in 2022 and $65.5 billion in 2024.
An industry insider said, “If the market for semiconductors for vehicles continues to be shortfall and the margins that have been low so far increase significantly, there is a possibility that the supply plans of companies will change.” Seems to give.”
Accordingly, the domestic semiconductor industry, led by Samsung Electronics, is looking for opportunities to expand the market by entering into some automotive semiconductor fields such as AP and TCU (vehicle communication equipment), which are central processing units.
Samsung Electronics launched a vehicle semiconductor brand in 2018 and supplied Exynos Auto, an automotive AP, to Audi. Telechips, a semiconductor design company, has been supplying infotainment system APs to Hyundai and Kia vehicles such as Genesis since 2011.
In addition, there is a prospect of the industry that Samsung Electronics will sooner or later take over one of NXP, ST Micro, TI, and Renesas with a live ammunition of 116 trillion won.
An industry insider said, “Autonomous driving, powertrain electrification, and expansion of electronic components have led to the evolution of automobiles into moving comprehensive IT devices.” Rather than changing the process of the line, there is a movement to solve the supply and demand through M&A.”
Reporter Jang Yoomi [email protected]