According to DIGITIMES, industry insiders said that the lead time of international IDM's automotive and industrial MCUs is still very long, at least 30 weeks or even more than a year, while Taiwanese manufacturers are stepping up to fill the supply gap of consumer MCUs, especially 32-bit MCUs source.

With additional foundry capabilities from TSMC, Japan's Renesas Electronics is now reducing lead times for automotive MCUs to 30-34 weeks, and it continues to outsource more back-end business to partners in Taiwan, the sources said. TeraPower Technology and ASE.

Lead times for NXP's MCUs now range from 30 to 50 weeks, with Microchip's lead times reaching 40-70 weeks for 16-bit MCUs and 57-70 weeks for its 32-bit MCU supply, the sources said. Microchip has pointed out that it may still not be able to return to normal lead times before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, STMicroelectronics and Infineon have both reported tight supplies of 8-, 16- and 32-bit MCUs, as their own fabs or foundry partners are not expanding their capacity quickly, the sources said. Delivery time has been extended to at least 52-58 weeks.

As IDM focuses more on the production of high-end automotive and industrial MCUs, the supply gap of 32-bit MCUs for consumer devices such as fast chargers, commercial laptops and desktops, and 8-bit industrial MCUs is being filled by many Taiwanese manufacturers Filled by businessmen, including Nuvoton Technology, Holtek Semiconductor, etc.

Sources said most manufacturers have secured more wafer capacity supply from foundry partners, but have struggled to pass on the increased costs to downstream customers due to uncertain end-market prospects. Labor costs will put pressure on its gross margin.

IC Insights estimates that the global MCU market will exceed $21.6 billion in 2022, and 32-bit MCUs will record the highest compound annual growth rate in the next five years.