The maker of your calculator could also be the maker of a worldwide technology crisis.
What you need to know
- There has been a global semiconductor crisis ravaging technology supply chains for a large chunk of 2020 and 2021.
- The chip shortage has affected industries ranging from automobile makers to graphics card manufacturers.
- According to a new report, the worldwide crisis has an identifiable cause — a company famous for its calculators.
In the event you’ve attempted to buy a car, one of the best graphics cards, or just about any high-tech toy or smart appliance in between, you’ve likely noticed the scarcity of supply and high prices floating around. These circumstances didn’t arise from thin air; they’re the result of a global chip shortage that’s slowing production pipelines and supply chains throughout the world across a bevy of industries. And now, a few Taiwan-based companies are calling out the entity they’ve identified as the root cause of it all.
As reported by DigiTimes, some Taiwan-based tech manufacturers — think smartphones, PCs, and related gadgetry — have singled out Texas Instruments as being at the epicenter of the chip shortage’s widespread production pandemonium (via WinFuture). In case the name “Texas Instruments” sounds familiar to you, that’s because you very well may have used one of its calculators in your lifetime. That’s the company being accused of having a vice grip on global technology output.
This accusation is based on the fact that Texas Instruments manufactures analog chips that are essential for duties such as PC voltage regulation. Said chips are a fundamental part of much computing technology, and are in a more dire supply situation than the advanced, specialized chips the likes of TSMC and co. produce.
The aforementioned Taiwan-based sources say Texas Instruments’ inability to ramp up production capacity is the fundamental problem underpinning everything else. The question now is whether this supposed culprit identification will have any impact on the U.S. government’s shortage-combatting plans.
