Chip shortage in the medical industry
Medical chips are in a hurry, and the cost doubling is “troubling”
The integrated circuit chip is to shrink and shrink a large electronic module. For electronic products, the chip is equivalent to the brain.
“Generally speaking, according to different application scenarios, chips can be divided into commercial grade, industrial grade, automotive grade, etc. For the medical industry, the selection of available chips is relatively wide, and chips in the three fields are basically universal.” The above The person in charge of the supply chain said that, for example, chips with camera functions can be used in digital cameras, car navigation, and X-ray imaging machines.
Second- and third-generation chips used by automakers and high-tech manufacturers are a “major demand” in the medical device sector.
Therefore, this round of chip shortage has triggered direct competition between the medical industry and the automotive and high-end manufacturing industries for chip resources.
In fact, in the field of chips, the “right to speak” of medical care is far lower than that of the automotive industry. According to a report released last fall by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), total semiconductor sales for the global medical device end market were $5.6 billion in 2019, accounting for only 1.3% of the total semiconductor market. Although the demand in the medical industry is not high, under the current shortage situation, the difficulty of purchasing is greatly increased, and the cost is so high that the price is often doubled by 100 times. For any commodity under the market economy, raw materials have risen by dozens to hundreds of times, which will definitely affect the downstream ecology.
In this case, medical equipment manufacturers are more affected by cost. The more high-end CT, MR and other products, the more chips they use, the higher the price they pay.
The price hike appears to be a recent pressure release outlet. Although the new crown epidemic has been brought under control, it is difficult for the price of medical products to fall back to the previous level, and the price increase may continue for about two years.
The trend of “lack of cores” has not yet bottomed out. The optimistic view is that it will improve in mid-2022. During this period, will more companies choose to raise prices to release pressure, and then form a wave of general price increases in the field of medical equipment? It remains to be seen.
Cheersonic is the leading developer and manufacturer of ultrasonic coating systems for applying precise, thin film coatings to protect, strengthen or smooth surfaces on parts and components for the microelectronics/electronics, alternative energy, medical and industrial markets, including specialized glass applications in construction and automotive.
