Component shortage to affect copiers?
Report published in Wirth Consulting magazine
- office printer/MFP industry is currently facing two key challenges: sharply
reduced office print volumes, as well as potential shortages of computer chips used by office printers and MFPs, as well as other supply constraints. - chip demand has sharply risen during the COVID-19 pandemic as lockdowns caused a surge in demand for PCs for work and education use at home, and for personal electronics such as game consoles and televisions.
- Last year the United States placed restrictions on Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), the biggest chip factory in China, preventing it from getting advanced chip manufacturing gear
- the restrictions also make it harder for SMIC to sell chips to companies with U.S. ties.
- According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the supply of computer chips for printers and MFPs will continue to affect manufacturers until mid-2021.
- production was affected at AKM (Asahi Kasei Microsystems, a Japanese
semiconductor manufacturer and also a major supplier of printer components, in November 2020 by a fire.