UDC 621.79
DOI: 10.36871/2618-9976.2021.10.005

Authors

Shcherbakov G.A.
Doctor of Economics, Financial University under the Government of Russia

Abstract

At the beginning of 2020, manufacturers of high-tech products faced an economic phenomenon that was nonstandard in a market economy – a shortage of semiconductor microcircuits. The shortage of small silicon components used in virtually all devices produced by the electronics industry has called into question the possibility of expanding production to meet the growing demand, and in some cases has led to a complete halt in production. Many observers associate the shortage with the abovementioned increase in the need for computer technology and the disruption of supply chains amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the sources of the crisis that has been prevailing to this day in a number of industrial sectors lie in earlier economic processes, the formation and development of which dates back to the prepandemic period. The reasons for the formation of a shortage of microcircuits and its consequences for global production are presented in this article.

Keywords

System analysis
Digitalization
Semiconductor industry
Microchips
Industry crisis
COVID-19 pandemic