Although the supply of consumer MCUs has recently eased, automotive MCUs continue to be in short supply due to the explosion of the new energy vehicle market. Recently, Renesas Electronics, a large automotive MCU manufacturer, was forced to shut down one of its MUC plants due to the voltage drop caused by lightning. The supply of automotive MCUs may become even tighter.

According to the announcement on Renesas Electronics' website, lightning hit an electric line supplying its plant in Kawashiri, Japan, as Typhoon No.4 led to a local thunderstorm, resulting in a temporary suspension of production facilities at the plant.

Although Renesas Electronics activated its UPS immediately after the voltage dropped, the duration of the voltage drop was significantly longer than the historical records and expectations over the past ten years, halting 90 percent of the equipment. Fortunately, the plant's cleanroom function remained in effect after the voltage drop.

Renesas Electronics said it had restarted production facilities and that a part of the production will recover from July 6. The production capacity expected to return to the normal minimum on July 11.

In addition, Products in the middle of the manufacturing process at the moment of voltage drop were ruined and will be thrown.

The incident is estimated to cause the loss of two weeks' worth of output.

According to the global MCU supplier ranking in 2021 published by IC Insights, a semiconductor research organization, Renesas Electronics is the third-largest MCU supplier in the world, with $3.42 billion in sales and 17.0% market share.

And Renesas Electronics mainly focuses on automotive MCUs. According to Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, in 2020, Renesas Electronics ranked first with a market share of up to 30% in the global automotive MCU market.

Obviously, the voltage drop at Renesas Electronics' Kawashima plant will lead to an even tighter supply of automotive MCUs, under the current circumstance of automotive MCU shortage.

Source from Xinzhixun