Texas Winter Storm Disturbs Semiconductors Chipmakers

Power outages across Texas caused by the most recent cold front have shut down several semiconductor chipmakers’ plants clustered around Austin.  These chipmakers include  Samsung Electronics, NXP, and Infineon.  These impacts are adding further disruption to  a supply chain that has already been falling short on customer demand.

The Austin area is home to several plants and other facilities of major chipmakers. Unprecedented cold winter weather which spurred a surge in electricity demand haas now crippled the Texas utility gridforcing factory shutdowns, store closings, and leaving more than 3 million homes without power.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s second-largest semiconductor maker, was asked to pull power at its semiconductor plant by Austin Energy power utility.  Samsung has compiled and with this notice was able to take measures to as not to damage the tens of thousands of silicon wafers that are being manufactured in the plant.  This plan manufactures 14nm processors. It is important to note, any unplanned sudden power outage can result in millions in company damage.  As of now, Samsung has temporarily shut down its chip production at its Austin, Texas facilities in compliance with energy company ask.

NXP Semiconductor, one of the largest makers of chips used by automakers, has also idled two plants in the Austin area per the need ofAustin-area utility providers to prioritize service to residential areas. The company has notified  affected customers of potential supply disruptions. All other NXP Semiconductor manufacturing facilities, outside of Texas, remain in full operation.  However, this outage will have a more significant influence on industry dynamics.

How will this affect your supply chain?

SiliconExpert has the data and expertise to help you identify the potential components at risk with this disruption.  We can also assist in giving you an in-depth look into those parts lifecycle statuses, find alternatives, and available inventory from authorized distributors.

Also, in response to a need for insights and forecasted impacts to events just like this, SiliconExpert has developed a support mechanism that can help customers identify risks in their supply chain. This service combines factors of geo-location and known risks in a proprietary formula to determine the overall supply chain risk score by the supplier and by part number.  With our new Supply Chain Services module, we can give you insights related to this event as well as data that can help your teams proactively mitigate impacts of future events.

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For more details for this power outage, please visit:

• http://www.semimedia.cc/?p=9249
• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nxp-semicondtrs-texas-weather/nxp-shuts-two-austin-plants-as-texas-reels-from-winter-storm-idUSKBN2AH1UC
• https://fortune.com/2021/02/17/texas-power-outage-update-failures-chip-factories-automakers/

By Hala Mohamed