"No equipment can be made without components"! South Korea's semiconductor inspection equipment industry faces the "most severe" component shortage in history.

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South Korea’s semiconductor testing equipment industry is facing severe supply chain bottlenecks—a widespread shortage of non-memory chips used to manufacture testing equipment has resulted in greatly extended delivery cycles and rising equipment costs. Several equipment companies have been forced to postpone delivery commitments to customers.

Among these, the delivery cycle for programmable semiconductors (FPGA) has suddenly increased from the original 8–10 weeks to as long as 52 weeks, and the delivery cycle for Driver ICs has changed from immediate purchase to at least a 10-week wait. As a result, a testing equipment manufacturer which has signed a supply contract worth over ten billion Korean won with Samsung Electronics has had to postpone its delivery date by three months.

The shortage of Intel server-grade CPUs (Xeon series) has further exacerbated the situation. Intel has prioritized its limited production capacity for large-scale cloud service providers and data centers, resulting in supply problems for other downstream markets. Some CPU market prices have risen from about 1 million Korean won to 3 million won, a threefold increase.

Industry insiders point out that the current dilemma is not a shortage of a single component, but an overall imbalance in the non-memory semiconductor supply chain. With AI and data center infrastructure demand continuing to soar, demand for semiconductor chips and semiconductor testing equipment is expanding abruptly and simultaneously, creating direct competition between the two. The shortage is unlikely to be alleviated in the short term.

Lead Times for FPGA and Driver ICs Extended Significantly

FPGAs are core components of testing equipment, primarily used for real-time analysis of testing data and quick identification of yield issues. A chip distributor representative stated, "FPGA lead time varies slightly by specification, but currently usually takes 52 weeks," reflecting the severe supply situation. AMD currently dominates the global FPGA market, having completed the acquisition of Xilinx.

In terms of driver ICs, Analog Devices (ADI) is experiencing an extremely serious supply bottleneck for its integrated "Pin Driver" series for Automated Test Equipment (ATE). Previously, these chips could be bought immediately from agents, but now the delivery wait time has extended to over 10 weeks.

Intel Prioritizes Supply to Major Clients, Next-Gen Products Delayed

The shortage of server-grade CPUs has had an additional impact on the testing equipment industry.

Recently, Intel has shifted the supply focus of its Xeon series CPUs to large-scale cloud service providers and data center server clients, making supply to other markets visibly tighter. An industry insider stated, "Purchasing Intel server-grade CPUs is increasingly difficult," and some product prices have surged threefold.

Intel’s next-generation server CPU "Diamond Rapids" production plans have also been postponed from the second half of this year to mid-next year. This delay means that the research and supply cycles of next-generation testing equipment relying on the high-performance features of this processor will be affected to varying degrees.

Component shortages have already caused a direct impact on actual deliveries. It is reported that a testing equipment manufacturer recently signed a supply contract worth more than ten billion Korean won with Samsung Electronics, but due to delayed component arrivals, had to postpone the delivery date by three months.

An industry insider said, "The current situation is not just a problem with a specific FPGA or CPU, but the entire non-memory semiconductor supply chain is facing severe bottlenecks."

Stockpiling Becomes "New Normal," Shortages May Persist

Facing escalating supply pressure, testing equipment manufacturers have widely adopted the strategy of advanced stockpiling: several months before formally signing a purchase order (PO), they negotiate equipment quantities and delivery dates with customers and place component orders in advance. However, industry insiders admit, even with this approach, the current stocking mechanism is unable to guarantee 100% smooth supply.

The industry widely expects that the supply shortage of non-memory semiconductors required for testing equipment will not be relieved in the short term. Robust demand for AI and data center infrastructure continues to drive the overall semiconductor market, causing both downstream components and testing equipment to face explosive demand, with supply pressures impossible to quickly ease.

The situation is equally bleak for semiconductor manufacturers purchasing testing equipment. An industry insider said, "The strategy of semiconductor manufacturers and equipment companies collaborating closely, forecasting in advance and actively responding" is being adopted by more and more enterprises recently, and is becoming the new normal in the industry.

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