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The automotive industry presumed they were higher delivery priority than they really were. By volume they were not thus they had lower priority when things got

The automotive industry presumed they were higher delivery priority than they really were. By volume they were not thus they had lower priority when things got squeezed. The auto industry also had unreasonable chip reliability demands - physics doesn't care that they wanted 30-year life while also having 7-10 nm CPU performance - you can NOT HAVE BOTH! IoT is primarily NOT 7-10 nm performance nodes - AVRs and many ARMs are not at that level - you can get by with larger geometries which can be made on older processes. So not so much shortage issues.

CamperBob2 5y ago
No, there are legitimate shortage issues, and the "Automakers screwed up their forecasts" excuse is starting to wear awfully thin. Intel FPGAs aren't typically used in cars, for example, yet we're seeing quotes of $500+ on parts that used to cost $50. Lead times? "Don't ask."
- katmannthree 5y ago
  Automakers more or less started the shortage, as a result of that everyone is in squirrel mode buying up what they can because they rightly fear having to reengineer and revalidate every single production run. That our new economy has a greater thirst for chips just compounds the issue.
- PeterisP 5y ago
  If there's a shortage and buyers willing to pay a premium in one segment, it affects all other segments because at least part of manufacturing capacity is interchangeable (with switching costs, but those are bearable if someone wants to pay) and it becomes profitable to randomly shut down production of various niche parts to save some car manufacturers arse, or have essentially a bidding war between those niche parts or car parts in order to discard any customers which aren't willing to pay increased prices.
- bsder 5y ago
  FPGAs are likely short because they are a substitute for SoCs in expensive products. Everything is sloshing around. If you want to deliver that part to beat your competitor this year, you will find a substitute.

CamperBob2 5y ago

No, there are legitimate shortage issues, and the "Automakers screwed up their forecasts" excuse is starting to wear awfully thin. Intel FPGAs aren't typically used in cars, for example, yet we're seeing quotes of $500+ on parts that used to cost $50. Lead times? "Don't ask."

katmannthree 5y ago
Automakers more or less started the shortage, as a result of that everyone is in squirrel mode buying up what they can because they rightly fear having to reengineer and revalidate every single production run. That our new economy has a greater thirst for chips just compounds the issue.
PeterisP 5y ago
If there's a shortage and buyers willing to pay a premium in one segment, it affects all other segments because at least part of manufacturing capacity is interchangeable (with switching costs, but those are bearable if someone wants to pay) and it becomes profitable to randomly shut down production of various niche parts to save some car manufacturers arse, or have essentially a bidding war between those niche parts or car parts in order to discard any customers which aren't willing to pay increased prices.
bsder 5y ago
FPGAs are likely short because they are a substitute for SoCs in expensive products. Everything is sloshing around. If you want to deliver that part to beat your competitor this year, you will find a substitute.