Chip tools become latest victim of global semiconductor crunch

Longer delivery times mean slower ramp-up of production capacity

20210414 Drill Machine drilling a printed circuit board

The shortage of computer chips is also being felt by manufacturers of chipmaking equipment. Wait times for drill machines, used on printed circuit boards and substrates, can run up to a year.

CHENG TING-FANG, LAULY LI and AKANE OKUTSU, Nikkei staff writers

April 15, 2021 12:28 JST

TAIPEI/TOKYO -- Trying to solve the global chip crunch? You will need more chipmaking machines. But you won't be able to get them -- because of the shortage of chips.

This conundrum is the latest sign of how the global semiconductor supply crunch is now spreading so far that it is rebounding onto the chipmaking industry itself.