
TOKYO -- The race to secure chipmaking components has created a supply chain "imbalance" that is likely to prolong the semiconductor shortage for the foreseeable future, according to the head of Japanese robot maker Yaskawa Electric.
"If every company placed all of their inventory of components on a marketplace, there would be sufficient supply," Chairman and President Hiroshi Ogasawara said in an interview with Nikkei Asia on Monday. "But some companies have stockpiled a significant number of certain components and are not sharing them. This imbalance is the biggest problem today."