Some chip segments are hit harder than others. Microcontrollers for example suffer from lead times of 26.5 weeks. Power management chip lead times on the other hand have decreased, which is a sliver of good news.
Earlier this year, when TSMC was under heavy pressure to pivot and give more manufacturing space to automotive companies, the company warned that with its existing capacity fully utilized, it could only give more fab room to car manufacturers by shortchanging other customers. Difficulty filling orders has incentivized companies to overestimate expected sales as a means of ensuring they have enough silicon for the foreseeable future. This makes shortages worse in the short term because fab companies have a limited window into how “real” the demand for any given product is. Overbooking can also lead to a steep order decline at the end of a shortage as companies focus on selling off excess inventory and do not place as many orders.The industry expects shortages will last into 2022 and could persist as long as late 2023 in some industries.