On October 20, 2020, a fire broke out at the Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) semiconductor plant in Miyazaki, Japan. The fire was declared extinguished four days later, leaving the factory severely damaged and out of operation.
AKM is one of the largest manufacturers of large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs). Products affected include analog-to-digital converters (ADC) and digital-to-analog converters (DAC), as well as other digital mixed signal technology used in high-end audio devices. In Q4 2020, AKM communicated to customers they should switch to alternative products. In addition, it is currently working with third-party manufacturers to resume some production until the AKM plant can reopen, which is expected to be in March 2022.
In addition to the ICs used for audio visual applications, AKM manufactures ICs in Temperature-Compensated Crystal Oscillators (TCXOs) and raw materials for other crystal oscillators.
The impact of the 2020 fire on the global semiconductor supply chain continues into Q1 2021.
