Chip shortage hurts automotive sector, and will catch up with Apple any day now
Carmakers with ‘just-in-time’ production lines have suffered major disruptions from the chip shortage
San Francisco — On the same day that Ford Motor said it would be able to produce only half as many cars as planned due to a global chip shortage, Apple announced blowout quarterly earnings as smartphone and computer sales soared, with the chip shortage having only a small impact on its business.
The contrasting results show how major players in the electronics industry, accustomed to the long-time horizons of chip production, have mostly avoided major disruptions from the chip shortage. Carmakers and their suppliers, with “just-in-time” production lines that can more easily be spun up or changed to produce different varieties of parts, have not...
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