Taiwan Races To Remedy Car Chip Shortage But No End In Sight, Says Economy Minister

Taiwan's semiconductor makers are racing to end a chip shortage that has forced car makers to hit the brakes on production.

But the Taiwanese government's economic chief says it is still unclear when the crisis will be over.

Taiwan's Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told NPR that Taiwanese microchip producers, like world-leading Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., have boosted production this year and are filling more auto-related orders.

Demand for chips from other sectors isn't likely to slacken, though, and with at least a five-month lead time for car chips, she said it's unclear when the shortage faced by auto makers will ease.

"Taiwanese foundries have begun to readjust their capacity and production since the beginning of this year," Wang said in an interview late on Sunday, referring to chip factories.

"In addition, because they have all understood that the shortage in auto chips has created a big impact in that industry, they are willing to adjust the order fill rates of auto chip customers, so that the order rate for auto chips is higher than that of other product categories," she said.