[W///]

TAIPEI — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) expects to be able to catch up with the "minimum requirement" of customer demand for auto chips by the end of June, its chairman told U.S. broadcaster CBS.

Automakers around the world are shutting assembly lines due to the shortage of chips for the industry, which in some cases were exacerbated by the former U.S. administration's actions against Chinese chip factories.

Taiwan, home to a booming semiconductor industry, is front and center of efforts to resolve that problem, and its chipmakers have vowed to ramp up capacity.

Speaking to CBS' "60 Minutes" in comments broadcast on Sunday, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said they first heard about the shortages in December and the following month began trying to squeeze out as many chips as possible for automakers.

"Today, we think we are two months ahead, that we can catch up the minimum requirement of our customers, before the end of June," he said.

Asked if he meant the auto chip shortage would end in two months, he said no.

"There's a time lag. In car chips particularly, the supply chain is long and complex. The supply takes about seven to eight months," Liu said.

TSMC is the world's largest contract chipmaker.

While the chip shortage began first being felt by automakers, it has since spread to other sectors like consumer electronics.

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/05/03/...tes-interview/

[LongDriver]

Originally Posted by chris719

BTW, you know every automaker can have different dependencies. US automakers used a lot of Freescale (NXP) and TI parts. European - Infineon and NXP (Philips). Japanese - Renesas, Toshiba, etc. This is not 100% true any longer, but historically the Japanese especially used Japanese products where possible.

Even though NXP is Dutch and Samsung is Korean, their US fabs in Austin suffered big setbacks with that power fiasco. It's not as simple as restarting as soon as power comes back. Most fabs in US and Europe, other than Intel's, are not leading-edge and that makes them more likely to produce automotive products. Automotive chips are mostly produced on 28nm or larger processes.

I'm a supply chain professional who is working with automotive and hi-tech clients to deal with the chip shortages. Chris719 is dead-on accurate.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by W///

Speaking to CBS' "60 Minutes" in comments broadcast on Sunday, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said they first heard about the shortages in December and the following month began trying to squeeze out as many chips as possible for automakers.

I wonder how much of that, if any, is new business vs existing. TSMC does fab for NXP, STMicro, etc. but they also have their own fabs. I guess it depends on which products are in short supply. It's not clear to me if they are starting to produce designs that were made elsewhere, or just taking wafer starts from other customers.

I liked this quote from the Nikkei article on this story:

"After yesterday's meeting Wang defended the island's semiconductor manufacturers, saying they had warned customers that reductions in chip orders last year could be "dangerous" for vehicle supply chains."

Here is a good video on how their business works and some estimated costs:

[Tallest]

one of the best threads I read on this forum in many years. thanks for sharing the knowledge guys, especially insights from @chris719 are pretty cool!

So how do we make money on this?...

[soheil]

Originally Posted by Tallest

one of the best threads I read on this forum in many years. thanks for sharing the knowledge guys, especially insights from @chris719 are pretty cool!

So how do we make money on this?...

Most of this knowledge is already priced in but if you have some money, invest in semiconductor manufacturers. If you have ton of money build your own fab! And as always, if you don't have any money start a YouTube channel and sell courses on how to make money

[flavius]

Originally Posted by TurboKitKats

Awesome license plate!

Certainly is.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by Tallest

one of the best threads I read on this forum in many years. thanks for sharing the knowledge guys, especially insights from @chris719 are pretty cool!

So how do we make money on this?...

If I knew I'd be on Rennlist and FerrariChat .

[BMWCCA1]

BMW NA issued a bulletin a couple of days ago outlining what is no longer available on each model, and what options are restricted. It included H/K sound on some cars, Active Cruise on a bunch, and plenty of seat options either removed or restricted like ventilation, lumbar, side-bolster adjustments. I'll bring the list home and give a synopsis unless someone else has access before that. Pissing off several customers with orders as BMW restricts even exterior colors with M-sport options that used to be normal, and rushing orders from 111 to 150 while deleting H/K option, and others. I've had orders for June production now scheduled to complete the second week of May.

Oddly enough, though much of these deleted options have been removed from the NA Build-it site, they have not been removed for the same models on the BMW.com international site. Customers using that configurator are simply calling us liars and ignorant because what we know we can't get them is still showing as available for Europe.

[soheil]

Originally Posted by BMWCCA1

BMW NA issued a bulletin a couple of days ago outlining what is no longer available on each model, and what options are restricted. It included H/K sound on some cars, Active Cruise on a bunch, and plenty of seat options either removed or restricted like ventilation, lumbar, side-bolster adjustments. I'll bring the list home and give a synopsis unless someone else has access before that. Pissing off several customers with orders as BMW restricts even exterior colors with M-sport options that used to be normal, and rushing orders from 111 to 150 while deleting H/K option, and others. I've had orders for June production now scheduled to complete the second week of May.

Oddly enough, though much of these deleted options have been removed from the NA Build-it site, they have not been removed for the same models on the BMW.com international site. Customers using that configurator are simply calling us liars and ignorant because what we know we can't get them is still showing as available for Europe.

Well I'm sorry for you guys that you have to play the bad guy in here! Imagine explaining the relationship between global chip shortage and not being able to get heated seats!!!

I would be very interested to see that bulletin you mentioned! Any restrictions for i3/i3s? I was building one last night and if I remember correctly couldn't find Apple CarPlay anywhere, but I know that it used to be offered because we got it on our 2018 i3!

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by soheil

Well I'm sorry for you guys that you have to play the bad guy in here! Imagine explaining the relationship between global chip shortage and not being able to get heated seats!!!

I would be very interested to see that bulletin you mentioned! Any restrictions for i3/i3s? I was building one last night and if I remember correctly couldn't find Apple CarPlay anywhere, but I know that it used to be offered because we got it on our 2018 i3!

Two absolute "musts" for me on any new car purchase are ACC and the HUD. I would not consider a car without both. It is a good thing that I intend to keep my 2018 for several more years.

[Wild Blue]

Originally Posted by BMWCCA1

BMW NA issued a bulletin a couple of days ago outlining what is no longer available on each model, and what options are restricted. It included H/K sound on some cars, Active Cruise on a bunch, and plenty of seat options either removed or restricted like ventilation, lumbar, side-bolster adjustments. I'll bring the list home and give a synopsis unless someone else has access before that. Pissing off several customers with orders as BMW restricts even exterior colors with M-sport options that used to be normal, and rushing orders from 111 to 150 while deleting H/K option, and others. I've had orders for June production now scheduled to complete the second week of May.

Oddly enough, though much of these deleted options have been removed from the NA Build-it site, they have not been removed for the same models on the BMW.com international site. Customers using that configurator are simply calling us liars and ignorant because what we know we can't get them is still showing as available for Europe.

Yes, I'd VERY much like to see that bulletin. I'm rather surprised that BMW hasn't put out an official news statement. One came out about the shutdown of Mini production. This is big stuff.

In the absence of official news, we're having to go off of anecdotal reports from dealers, and customers who are having issues with their factory orders. One anecdotal report in the X7 forum here says they're shutting down the entire 40i production line for the remainder of MY2021.

[briguy80]

Originally Posted by BMWCCA1

BMW NA issued a bulletin a couple of days ago outlining what is no longer available on each model, and what options are restricted. It included H/K sound on some cars, Active Cruise on a bunch, and plenty of seat options either removed or restricted like ventilation, lumbar, side-bolster adjustments. I'll bring the list home and give a synopsis unless someone else has access before that. Pissing off several customers with orders as BMW restricts even exterior colors with M-sport options that used to be normal, and rushing orders from 111 to 150 while deleting H/K option, and others. I've had orders for June production now scheduled to complete the second week of May.

Oddly enough, though much of these deleted options have been removed from the NA Build-it site, they have not been removed for the same models on the BMW.com international site. Customers using that configurator are simply calling us liars and ignorant because what we know we can't get them is still showing as available for Europe.

Do we know if they are planning for these issues to continue into MY2022 or if they're holding back on MY2021 in order to allow the MY2022 to be full featured?

[soheil]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

Two absolute "musts" for me on any new car purchase are ACC and the HUD. I would not consider a car without both. It is a good thing that I intend to keep my 2018 for several more years.

Yep, not having ACC really sucks specially if you've had it before and are used to it! Worth waiting for couple of months in my opinion if you are not in a rush but obviously no one can predict when situation will be improved

[shameson]

Originally Posted by BMWCCA1

BMW NA issued a bulletin a couple of days ago outlining what is no longer available on each model, and what options are restricted. It included H/K sound on some cars, Active Cruise on a bunch, and plenty of seat options either removed or restricted like ventilation, lumbar, side-bolster adjustments. I'll bring the list home and give a synopsis unless someone else has access before that. Pissing off several customers with orders as BMW restricts even exterior colors with M-sport options that used to be normal, and rushing orders from 111 to 150 while deleting H/K option, and others. I've had orders for June production now scheduled to complete the second week of May.

Oddly enough, though much of these deleted options have been removed from the NA Build-it site, they have not been removed for the same models on the BMW.com international site. Customers using that configurator are simply calling us liars and ignorant because what we know we can't get them is still showing as available for Europe.

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

Yes, I'd VERY much like to see that bulletin. I'm rather surprised that BMW hasn't put out an official news statement. One came out about the shutdown of Mini production. This is big stuff.

In the absence of official news, we're having to go off of anecdotal reports from dealers, and customers who are having issues with their factory orders. One anecdotal report in the X7 forum here says they're shutting down the entire 40i production line for the remainder of MY2021.

It is pretty extensive unfortunately. Some these are being removed entirely, and some are just possibly restricted for future orders, so I assume it may be first come, first serve going forward. These changes started with March production vehicles. To give a few changes:

• H/K is being limited (or removed fully) as an option on any vehicles where it is not standard.
• Ventilated seats, multi contour seats and possibly even M Sport package are being restricted on X5/6/7 6-cyl models
• Laser lights possibly restricted for 4 series models (M4 included).
• Lumbar is being added to the drivers seat only on 3/4 series.
• No ventilated seats on X3/X4 (still available on M models).

They already had removed ZDY package on 3/4/X3/X4 30i/30e models, so no active cruise for those. All these are already being reflected on the BYO on BMWUSA site.

[soheil]

Originally Posted by shameson

It is pretty extensive unfortunately. Some these are being removed entirely, and some are just possibly restricted for future orders, so I assume it may be first come, first serve going forward. These changes started with March production vehicles. To give a few changes:

• H/K is being limited (or removed fully) as an option on any vehicles where it is not standard.
• Ventilated seats, multi contour seats and possibly even M Sport package are being restricted on X5/6/7 6-cyl models
• Laser lights possibly restricted for 4 series models (M4 included).
• Lumbar is being added to the drivers seat only on 3/4 series.
• No ventilated seats on X3/X4 (still available on M models).

They already had removed ZDY package on 3/4/X3/X4 30i/30e models, so no active cruise for those. All these are already being reflected on the BYO on BMWUSA site.

Any restrictions on i3/i3s?

[shameson]

Originally Posted by soheil

Any restrictions on i3/i3s?

No, not that I am aware of at least.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by shameson

It is pretty extensive unfortunately. Some these are being removed entirely, and some are just possibly restricted for future orders, so I assume it may be first come, first serve going forward. These changes started with March production vehicles. To give a few changes:

• H/K is being limited (or removed fully) as an option on any vehicles where it is not standard.
• Ventilated seats, multi contour seats and possibly even M Sport package are being restricted on X5/6/7 6-cyl models
• Laser lights possibly restricted for 4 series models (M4 included).
• Lumbar is being added to the drivers seat only on 3/4 series.
• No ventilated seats on X3/X4 (still available on M models).

They already had removed ZDY package on 3/4/X3/X4 30i/30e models, so no active cruise for those. All these are already being reflected on the BYO on BMWUSA site.

Thanks for the updated info, some of those would definitely influence my decision if I were in the market. It seems like the X5/6/7 are getting it the worst of all the models, options like Multi-Contour seats are an amazing option that really benefit the ownership experience, couldn't see myself not getting it, not to mention that means you can't get higher grade leathers without it.

[Vitacura]

I have an M240i Convertible I ordered last month that is scheduled for production this month. When I ordered the VIR showed no issues with lumbar support/side bolsters or even the HK sound option I added. Really hope it doesn't get removed now that it is about to start production.

[Pauleebe]

Wow. Looks like I'll be forced to shop other brands where options/packages are still available.

[mbanck]

Originally Posted by Pauleebe

Wow. Looks like I'll be forced to shop other brands where options/packages are still available.

Yeah, but check out a brand that *checks note* does not use electronics, or is from another planet!

[xtopher84]

Originally Posted by Pauleebe

Wow. Looks like I'll be forced to shop other brands where options/packages are still available.

I work for GM and this shortage is affecting all manufacturers in the industry. Likely won't end until Q4

[stein_325i]

BMW CEO Sees Semiconductor Investment Wave Easing Supply Crunch

Originally Posted by Bloomberg

BMW AG expects the global shortage of semiconductors hindering automotive production to be resolved as companies and governments zero-in on the issue.

"There's intense focus on the issue globally, so it's to be expected for supply and demand to be back in balance within two years at the latest," BMW Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse said in an interview Thursday at the company's driving academy near Munich.

A lack of chips used in everything from navigation systems to certain rear-view mirrors has forced carmakers to curtail production just as demand picks up in major economies that are easing pandemic restrictions. While Ford Motor Co. last month estimated the scarcity of semiconductors will slash earnings by $2.5 billion this year, BMW has only reported limited stoppages at two European plants thus far.

The shortages that arose after consumers snapped up electronic gadgets en masse while confined at home have put in motion broad efforts to boost production. The European Commission plans to double the bloc's chip production to at least 20% of world supply by 2030, a move that would reduce its reliance on foreign companies for the critical components.

U.S. President Joe Biden has vowed to better secure America's supply chain by reviving domestic chip manufacturing. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will spend as much as $28 billion on new plants and equipment this year.

While waiting for investment programs to gather pace, manufacturers have had little choice but to idle plants or take the unusual step of stripping certain high-tech features from select models. Zipse said BMW has no plans to seek new partnerships or joint ventures despite current restraints.

"For critical components, we'll stick with long-term supply contracts and a range of different partners," he said. This will include battery cells critical to accelerating BMW's rollout of EVs. "From our point of view, we've covered the necessary supplies with long-term contracts."