now a shortage of silicon chips is
forcing
automakers to cut back on production u.s
car giant ford is now drastically
reducing
output of its top-selling f-150 pickup
truck
while general motors says it'll suspend
work at
three north american factories the two
u.s car makers are the latest to react
to what has become a global problem
germany's daimler bmw and volkswagen as
well as toyota and many other car
manufacturers said that
they will haul production at their
factors due to the chip
shortage now this comes just as they
began recovering from pandemic
forced plant shutdowns
now these semiconductor chips they power
everything
from planes to cars to computers and
silicon waivers
are a key component now the market for
these waivers
making them has been now by dominated
up until now by five companies siltronic
of germany
is one of them and global waivers of
japan as well
but now those two companies are joining
forces global waiver says
it's 4.4 billion euro bid for a
controlling stake in siltronic has been
successful
combined they'll become the world's
second biggest silicon waiver producer
at a time
when need for the product has never been
higher
semiconductors are in demand and money
is cheap
tech heavyweights have taken note and
are on a shopping spree with their site
set on europe's relatively small
and affordable companies after all
europe is a huge market that's set to
grow rapidly
that's why two companies changed
ownership this week
german microchip maker dialogue now has
japanese owners
while silicon wafer producer stiltronic
was snapped up by a taiwanese firm
british-based chip designer arm is also
the target of a takeover bid
nvidia in the u.s wants to buy it for 33
billion euros
authorities could still intervene 18
eu member states declared the
semiconductor industry as strategically
important back in december
the industry is set to receive billions
in eu subsidies
to maintain europe's technological
independence
the world's shipmakers are mainly
concentrated in asia with a 70 percent
market share
the world's largest supplier tsmc is
based in taiwan
american firms have a roughly 20 share
of the market
while europe lags behind at 8
european firms long underestimated the
importance of microchips
just take cars and trucks europe long
specialized in high quality mechanical
engineering
but today's vehicles are increasingly
resembling drivable computers
europe has neglected the semiconductor
industry long
seen as low margin and volatile that's
now become the continent's achilles heel
for more let's bring in our business
correspondent chelsea delaney chelsea we
heard about the troubles the
shortage of semiconductors are causing
to the auto industry in particular
will this deal now help resolve the
problem
no the shortage in semiconductors is
likely to last for
for several more months at the very
least despite
these mergers and this is a particularly
a problem for the auto industry
because we've seen a huge increase in
demand for semiconductors as
there's been a boom in sales of home
tech
equipment people moving to home office
people buying things like playstations
and it's much more profitable for
semiconductor makers to
make the products for that tech
equipment instead of the auto equipment
that's a very low margin business so all
of the
capacity right now is being directed at
the home tech market
uh and so these these mergers that we're
seeing it will
in the long term likely boost uh
production
but for now automakers are really low
down on the priority list for
semiconductor makers
and it takes a long time to to ramp up
capacity
now chelsea in a different aspect of the
story
german political leaders have been
worried recently about german companies
including their technology being taken
over by foreign players now what's the
mood regarding this
takeover uh of siltronic by global
waivers
it's definitely causing anxiety both
here in berlin and at the broader eu
level because the eu
really is pushing forward with it with
digitalization that's really the future
they see
and that future is dependent on access
to chips and
the eu doesn't want to be dependent on
asia or the u.s
for access to semiconductors because
we've seen how that technology can be
used
as a pawn in some of these geopolitical
conflicts like we've seen between the
u.s and china
in the past few years so the eu really
wants to secure its own independent base
of chips and deals like this
raise concern that that's not going to
be possible chelsea delaney thank you