Winter weather closes Texas chip plants, worsening shortages

The winter storm ravaging the United States has forced the shutdown of computer chip manufacturing in Texas, threatening to worsen a global semiconductor shortage.

NXP Semiconductors, a major provider of automotive and mobile phone chips, said its plant in Austin, Texas was closed amid the state's electric power difficulties.

"We are carefully monitoring the situation and will resume operations in our Austin facilities as soon as possible," said David Reed, executive vice president for operations at the Dutch-based company.

Infineon Technologies said it was given notice this week that power would be turned off for its plant in Austin.

"This gave us a few hours to prepare for the disruption and we were able to put the factory into a safe state and protect our employees and production inventory," a statement from the German-based tech firm said.

"We have immediately set-up a task force, which is continuously monitoring the situation and executing mitigation measures."

Operations were also suspended at Texas facilities of South Korea's Samsung, according to media reports.

The news comes amid a worsening shortage of semiconductors affecting a variety of sectors including automobiles, mobile phones, game consoles and more.

Manufacturers have faced challenges in meeting strong consumer electronics demand during the pandemic, while meeting needs of other sectors.

The Biden administration said last week it was assessing immediate steps to address the semiconductor shortage and planned an executive order to shore up critical supply chain items.

The White House said the administration wants a "comprehensive review of supply chains for critical goods" that can guide both short- and long-term actions.

dho/rl/ft

NXP SEMICONDUCTORS

GENERAL MOTORS

FORD MOTOR

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS

INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG

Related Links
Computer Chip Architecture, Technology and Manufacture
Nano Technology News From SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

'Perfect storm': phones, consoles could get pricier as chip crisis bites
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Feb 18, 2021
Prices of popular gadgets such as PlayStations and iPhones could rise because of microchip shortages caused by a "perfect storm" of coronavirus-driven demand, supply chain disruptions and trade war stockpiling, experts warn. In the months after the pandemic hit, people stuck at home went on a spending spree to buy items including extra monitors, new computers and tablets - each of which runs on all-important chips. Compounding the crisis are US-China tensions - Huawei stockpiled semiconductors ... read more