Mainland chip shortages are causing delays in the launch of 5G phones. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
The chip shortage now extends to the cell phone industry, with chip resellers already delaying delivery by more than 50 weeks, which has affected the mass launch of 1,000 yuan 5G phones on the mainland.
According to a study by TrendForce, a global market research firm, some downstream chip delivery times have been as long as 10 months or more, and the “domino” effect triggered by the shortage of foundry capacity and price hikes is being transmitted to the entire industry, according to China First Financial.
At present, the cell phone industry is also in a state of high shortage of various types of chips. A cell phone supply chain sources said, Qualcomm’s full range of materials delivery period extended to more than 30 weeks, CSR Bluetooth audio chip delivery cycle has reached more than 33 weeks. Qualcomm CEO An Meng said in early February during the latest fiscal quarter conference call, chip shortage relief may have to wait until the end of this year.
In addition, the impact of upstream supply chain shortages, the mainland’s large-scale launch of 1,000 yuan 5G cell phones will be delayed for at least a quarter.
Since late May last year, the price of 5G phones on the mainland has been going down, as low as 1,500 yuan from the original 2,500 yuan (RMB, same below) bracket. During the double 11 period last year, some manufacturers even hit the price to RMB 999. On November 11 of that year, realme realme Q2 was priced at 948 yuan, the first Time a 5G phone fell below the 1,000 yuan price bracket.
Some industry insiders said that the thousand yuan 5G cell phone was originally planned to be mass marketed in the fourth quarter of last year, but was affected by the plague and supply chain chip shortages and other factors, resulting in the delay of the mass market of thousand yuan 5G machines. At present, from the viewpoint of chip manufacturers’ chip types, there are only a few 5G chips applicable to thousand-dollar models.
In an interview with the media, Zhou Chen, executive vice president of ZTE, said that from the entire industry chain, what is most lacking is a 5G entry-level chip. Moa Fei, who will be Microchip’s chief executive on March 1, said the chip shortage problem is spread across industries.
Recent Comments