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BMW Has Terrible News on the Chip Shortage, It’s Probably Right

The chip shortage was initially considered just a temporary global problem, as most industry analysts expected it to be over by the end of 2020.
BMW doesn't expect the chip shortage to come to an end too sooner 19 photos
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At that point, such a prediction pretty much made sense, especially as the entire planet was supposed to return to a normal life once the vaccines were ready.

Unfortunately, not only that this didn’t happen, but the chip shortage also persisted, with experts across the world then pushing back their estimates over a potential recovery first to 2021 and then to 2022.

Now that 2022 is already upon us, many people believed the lack of semiconductors would be resolved by the end of the year. But it’s becoming more and more obvious this isn’t going to happen, with carmakers one by one admitting that the struggle is likely to continue for one more year.

The latest to say it is none other than German car giant BMW. CEO Oliver Zipse has been recently quoted as saying that the chip shortage wouldn’t come to an end earlier than 2023, as the worst is yet to be over. In other words, the world is still struggling with the painful impact of the chip crisis, and we really shouldn’t hold our breath for a full recovery to pre-2020 levels.

Zipse claims that the shortage will continue to be a problem in 2023 as well after BMW previously anticipated the constrained inventory would survive until the end of the year.

The most pessimistic predictions indicate the chip shortage wouldn’t be over earlier than 2024, and unfortunately, the closer we get to the end of this year, the clearer it becomes that such a gloomy scenario isn’t at all impossible.

Carmakers are still struggling with the very constrained semiconductor inventory, and more often than not, their solutions come down to temporary halts of their production or selling vehicles without certain non-critical systems.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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