
PENANG, Malaysia -- The global chip supply crunch triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be dragged further into the next two years as the Russia-Ukraine conflict chokes off the availability of key materials used in their production, a semiconductor industry body said on Tuesday.
Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI, a global association of companies and professionals in electronics design and manufacturing, said chipmakers are struggling to find replacements for raw materials purchased from Ukraine, primarily highly purified rare gases such as neon, helium and krypton.