The semiconductor shortage that arose during the pandemic will continue to be felt and even worse in 2022, which most industry experts consider the year of critical shortage of chips. Analytical company ABI Research predicts that the shortage will significantly limit the supply of SIM cards this year. More precisely, shipments of SIM cards will decrease from 4.36 billion units in 2021 to 3.93 billion units in 2022.
However, experts urge to consider the shortage of microcircuits as a short-term market problem, which will be gradually resolved. The situation is likely to improve as early as 2023 as new production capacities are put into operation. Interestingly, even this, according to ABI Research, will not return the supply of SIM cards to the level that was observed before the pandemic. This is attributable to other factors, including the continued decline in SIM replacement rates and the move to eSIM. Even more serious long-term threats to the removable SIM form factor come from the smartphone market itself, which is already extremely saturated, limiting growth opportunities. According to the analysts, “average selling prices for smartphones are at significantly higher levels than a few years ago, negatively impacting removable SIM churn rates as device contracts are extended to spread the cost of more expensive smartphones over a longer period of time.” .
Source: ixbt
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