2022-09-19 We have repeatedly discussed the shortage of components for the production of electronics, the crisis began in 2020 and continues to affect the market. Literally, it has become a common place for the market, information has spread so widely that even people far from electronics know that there is such a problem in the world. In the news, we are constantly bombarded with unpleasant events in which the components of this crisis are blamed for all troubles. Toyota lines in Japan and cars don’t roll off the assembly line? A crisis in electronics, no components. Is Apple cutting iPhone production in 2022? Exactly the same crisis that everyone has heard about. The lack of components was a kind of apology for the events taking place, although in fact the shortage of components is more or less overcome and now other factors affect the market.
I can be chastised for a different point of view, it is very different from the generally accepted one in the industry. The topic has become so popular that typing the word semiconductor in the search bar, you immediately get a shortage hint. Unfortunately, like many short-term truths, this one has a number of flaws and the situation on the market is much more complicated, and as a result, more interesting.
The electronics market is used to living in a situation where it is constantly expanding and increasing. Unfortunately, I could not find data on the world market of consumer electronics in the 60-70s, you can only trace certain segments, for example, TVs. But if we take as a starting point the fact that the amount of electronics per person was orders of magnitude less, it becomes clear that the situation today and then differed dramatically. Even if you remember your childhood, you can safely say that earlier you were surrounded by a smaller number of electronic devices. And we can say that this applies to both personal belongings and what you use in public spaces – scoreboards and screens flooded the streets of cities, various systems that distribute Wi-Fi, and much more. Electronics has penetrated into all spheres of our lives, the world has largely become digital. In the zero, we received an impetus in the development of electronics, it became cheaper, more accessible and penetrated into all spheres of everyday life without exception.
But even if we look at previous years and the forecast for 2022 and beyond, we can see that the consumer electronics market continues to grow. But the explosive growth that once happened is gone.
