On March 29, the semiconductor sector as a whole was in a volatile trend. As of the noon closing, Jinan Guoji hit the daily limit, and many stocks such as National Technology, Hongda Electronics, and Hengxuan Technology followed suit.
The global automotive chip shortage continues
On March 26, due to the shortage of semiconductors, NIO decided to suspend the production of cars at the "JAC NIO" Hefei manufacturing plant starting from March 29. Production activities take 5 working days. Affected by this news, Weilai Automobile's US stock price once fell by more than 8.
In this regard, NIO stated that the factory will be able to resume normal production rhythm after 5 working days. Sources revealed that there was no news about the suspension of production in the factory. The production line was still in production that day, and there would be overtime production on the 27th and 28th. "We have been informed that equipment modifications for the production line will be carried out next week in conjunction with the Qingming Festival holiday." A source said.
NIO said that the overall tight supply of semiconductors has affected the company's automobile production in March this year. It is expected to deliver approximately 19,500 vehicles in the first quarter of 2021, up from 20,000 previously released to 2.05 The expected target of 10,000 vehicles has declined.
It is worth mentioning that before this, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Volkswagen and other car companies were forced to reduce production due to chip problems.
In addition, Fiat Chrysler, Nissan, Daimler, Subaru and many other car companies have announced that some factories have been forced to suspend production due to shortages of semiconductor chips.
In response to this wave of chip shortages, CITIC Securities pointed out that the main reasons are that the recovery speed of automobile sales after the epidemic is faster than expected, the car companies are lagging in adding chip orders, and in addition, consumer electronics are stocking up in advance to seize production capacity. The global 8-inch The tight wafer production capacity, as well as the earthquake in Japan and the snowstorm in the United States, have affected some wafer factories to temporarily suspend operations. The agency predicts that the shortage will continue until the fourth quarter of 2021, with 2021Q1-Q2 being the period of tightest supply and demand.
Domestic automotive electronics giants welcome development opportunities
The shortage of automotive chips highlights the importance of automotive chips to the industry, especially smart cars. According to reports, Xin Guobin, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on the 24th Hosted a seminar on automotive chip supply issues. Xin Guobin pointed out that automotive chips are important components related to the core competitiveness of the industry and are the key foundation for building a strong automotive nation. It is necessary to coordinate development and safety, adhere to the combination of long and short distances, and promote the system to improve the level of the entire industry chain and effectively support the high quality of the automotive and semiconductor industries. develop.
CICC believes that the end of future cars will be intelligent terminals that realize autonomous driving. Autonomous driving will become a technology wave that technology giants compete for. Under this technological wave with huge impact, automotive chips, especially self-driving chips, will be at the commanding heights of the self-driving wave.
Guangdong Securities stated that according to IHS, the semiconductor supply chain of microcontroller units (MCU) usually takes 3-4 months from ordering to delivery to the OEM, and the current delivery time has increased About double, at least 6 months. IHS expects that in the third quarter, the supply of MCUs will be able to meet the continued demand of OEMs at that time, but may not be able to make up for the lost demand in the first half of 2021. It is expected that the supply of MCUs in the fourth quarter will be able to meet the continued needs of OEMs and can make up for previous losses.
CITIC Securities stated that automotive semiconductors are the core components of automobiles, including MCUs, power semiconductors, sensors, storage, ASICs, etc. Currently, automotive chips are in relatively short supply, and leading domestic manufacturers may benefit from tight supply and demand.