Touch the display screen in front of you, the minimalist graphic style in the menu can provide car owners with diversified entertainment functions; acceleration from 100 kilometers in less than a few seconds, the torque curve of the electric motor brings light and calm acceleration performance, allowing car owners to "burn" A sense of excitement of soaring adrenaline; in the process of driving, "smart" smart cars escort traffic safety...The hero behind these application scenarios is the small and exquisite MCU chips.

Data shows that a fuel car needs to be equipped with dozens of MCU chips, while the demand for MCU chips for smart cars is between 100 and 200. MCUs are one of the key components hidden in smart cars. Recently, affected by the shortage of global automotive chip supply, automotive MCU chips have been stuck in the spotlight of the industry, and the development in 2022 has attracted more attention.

Release capacity or improve supply and demand

MCU accounts for about 30% of all semiconductor devices equipped in a car. Looking at the entire field of automotive electronic chips, MCU applications are very diverse. Whether it is intelligent functions such as body power, vehicle control, infotainment, and assisted driving, or intelligent systems such as ESP body stabilization system, ABS anti-lock braking system, engine ECU, etc., MCU chips are indispensable. It is estimated that the global automotive MCU market will reach 7.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.

The head concentration effect of international manufacturers in the field of automotive MCUs is significant. TrendForce TrendForce analyst Zeng Guanwei told the reporter of "China Electronics News" that the current global automotive MCU market is mainly used by six international IDMs: STMicroelectronics, NXP, Renesas, Infineon, Texas Instruments, and Microchip Technology. Manufacturers occupy more than 80% of the global market share of these manufacturers.

Due to the high barriers to entry and high technical content, automotive-grade MCUs have become the "severe disaster zone" for tight automotive chip supply in 2021. Due to the continuous impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the production capacity of major semiconductor manufacturers is limited, and the rising demand for consumer electronics has squeezed a large part of the production capacity of automotive MCU chips. In the case of insufficient production capacity and lengthened delivery periods, auto manufacturers cannot realize timely replenishment of chip inventory, which has further led to tight supply and demand for automotive MCU chips.

At present, the overall supply of the automotive MCU chip market is insufficient. The 2022 automotive MCU orders of companies such as STMicroelectronics, Infineon, NXP and Renesas are almost full. However, with the gradual resumption of fabs and further expansion of production capacity, the shortage of automotive MCUs is expected to be alleviated in the second half of 2022.

Zeng Guanwei said that the current Southeast Asian epidemic has gradually stabilized, and the labor force of all fabs in Malaysia has returned to 100%. However, because the delivery time of automotive chips usually takes 40 to 52 weeks, the tight supply of automotive chips is not expected to ease until the second half of 2022. However, it should be noted that, in the case of relatively limited release of new capacity, the automotive semiconductor market will still show the characteristics of a "seller's market".

Entering 2022, the overall shortage of MCU market may turn into a structural shortage. Jin Guang, director of Zhaoyi's innovative product marketing, told reporters from China Electronics News that with the release of new production capacity, tight supply and demand will be significantly improved. However, limited by capacity allocation, those product models with a longer life cycle and older process will face a long-term supply shortage, and at the same time, the cost will increase.

The automobile market is rapidly changing and complex, and any forecast may be affected by external factors and change. Zhao Mingyu, vice president of Renesas’ global automotive business center, told a reporter from China Electronics News that in this case, major automotive chip suppliers represented by Renesas will try their best to ensure the balance between supply and demand, and expand production capacity. To make efforts.