Have you noticed some of your favorite reefing electricals are out of stock lately? It may be down to a global shortage of microchips…
Chips do a lot for many modern reefing products. They act as the brain of any smart product, switching currents on and off but also memorizing settings. So any controllable LED light or wave pump relies on microchips in order to make them controllable, and there lies the problem.
Microchips are used in everything from cars to smartphones and we consumed 932 billion chips globally, in 2020. When Covid 19 hit demand for microchips increased as we all needed to run digital offices from home, but with the factories closed production of chips decreased, causing the shortage we are still seeing now.
Some car manufacturers are resorting to stripping features like climate-controlled rear seats in order to lessen chip usage per manufactured model, while others have delayed launches. A worker at a premium SUV production plant told Reef Builders that their company was buying up microwave ovens to strip them for chips to equip their $150,000 vehicles instead. And all-electric automobiles are set to increase demand still further.
The chips that are available are inevitably more expensive now and are being hoovered up by other larger or much more important industries like healthcare tech. And we have it firsthand from major reef tech companies that the global chip shortage is affecting production, supply, and even new product launches. After all, there’s no point in launching a product that you can’t build.
So if you can’t get hold of a Nero 3 but your new car has parking assist or voice commands the answer to why may be right in front of you!
