Global chip shortage will resolve next year from subdued demand: Renesas CEO

Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO of Renesas Electronics [Photo by Kim Ho-young]

Global chip shortage that has disrupted automobile output and related industries for two years will likely be resolved by middle of next year as demand subdues from fast rises in inflation and interest rates around the world, according to the chief executive of one of the biggest automobile chipmakers.

“Tight supply situation has already been much eased,” noted Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO of Renesas Electronics in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper on Wednesday while in Seoul.

The Tokyo-based chipmaker, born out of the 2002 merger of chip units of Hitachi and Mitsubishi, is the third largest automotive chipmaker in the world.

“But car delivery is being delayed due to some other parts,” he said.

Chip supplies won’t be a problem by middle of next year even without increased output as demand for new cars would subside from high inflation and interest rates, he added.

The company commands the largest 30 percent of the global microcontroller unit (MCU) market. The controller unit is a small computer on a single integrated circuit controlling the automobile electronic system.

It has been turning eager to enhance connectivity through M&As, buying Intersil of the U.S. in 2017, Integrated Device Technology (IDT) of the U.K. in 2019, and another British company Dialog Semiconductor in 2021. This year, it added Celeno Communications with competitiveness in smart Wi-Fi solutions and AI-strong Reality Analytics.

“We have been focused on connectivity, and kept up technologies through M&As in related area,” he said.

The company plans to continue with supplementing soft power to its hardware capabilities and is working on digital twin technology.

He forecast the demand for advanced driver assistance systems will grow 30 percent annually on the back of rapid expansion in the electric vehicle market estimated to surge by 40 percent a year.

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