‘There is no end in sight’: everything to know about the great microchip shortage

Since late last year, there has been a severe shortage of microchips, which is now affecting industries across the world

A selection of microchips

How bad is the shortage? “Never seen anything like it,” Tesla’s Elon Musk tweeted last month. Since late 2020, the world has been facing an unexpected dearth of microchips – the tiny integrated circuits that are nowadays found in practically every manufactured device with a battery or a plug – from toasters to TVs to airbags to fighter jets.

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