“Chipageddon”: What the Global Chip Drought Means for Manufacturing and Supply Chains

Abstract

A worldwide semiconductor shortage has global manufacturing firms struggling to adapt their supply chains to keep scarcity, delays, and inflation at a minimum. The growth of cloud computing services, cryptocurrency mining, and the range of “smart” products that require semiconductors (along with a market for them that increased over the course of the pandemic) have all contributed to the chip drought, and the absence of a single cause makes the shortage difficult to rectify. This has led to a call for investment in domestic semiconductor manufacturing in order to lessen the reliance on global supply chains. This case asks students to discuss the shortage and its likely impact on consumers, businesses, and manufacturing.