Due to the pandemic millions of people around the world have been needing to buy new computers, keyboards,monitors and even cars but they can’t! All due to a tiny device known as a semiconductor these semiconductors are found in everything… From your iPad to your car these devices allow our society to work the way it does. And in this article I will be explaining why there aren’t enough of them.

Firstly, what are semiconductors? Semiconductors are able to insulate and conduct electricity this in more simple terms means that they can transfer electricity up to a certain point like any normal electrical wire but then after they pass a certain point they stop letting electricity through also known as insulation.

So, what is causing this shortage of semiconductors? Firstly, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic automobile companies reduced their orders from semiconductor companies as they expected a huge reduction in sales; they expected this reduction because of the pandemic as it was assumed less people would want to buy cars. What was not foreseen was the massive growth in the electronics industry. An example of this is how total pc shipments rose 11% from 2019-2020 to put that into perspective that’s 302.6 million computers! This was due to the fact that because of the pandemic people were forced to work at home which resulted in a need for more technology to allow people to work at home effectively. This in turn led to increased demand for semiconductors.

Now we will be looking at some of the consequences of this shortage in semiconductors. Firstly, many companies are being forced to stop production of their cars. General motors have shut down three plants, Ford shut down their plants for a month, Honda closed a plant in Swindon (the southwest of England) , and Volkswagen said they are going to produce 100,000 fewer cars due to the shortage. Other industries affected include the electronics industry (this just means the companies that produce things like computers and other devices.) which is having trouble acquiring the parts that it needs.

In conclusion, the world is going through a global semiconductor shortage. This is a crucial device and is needed for many parts of our society to function. Key reasons the shortage is happening include Covid-19 as well as a lack of plants needed to manufacture these parts.