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How Covid-19 caused a global shortage of semiconductors and computer chips

How the global computer chip shortage happened
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How the global computer chip shortage happened

It's not an overstatement to say that semiconductors power the modern world.

They're not only a key component of nearly every electronic device we buy and use, they also power the factories that make the electronic devices we buy and use. And now, there aren't enough of them being made.

To find a long-term fix, President Joe Biden just ordered economic and national security experts to look for gaps in the semiconductor supply chain in the United States. They want to see how reliant the U.S. has become on other countries to manufacture semiconductors. 

In the short-term, however, semiconductor company CEOs and analysts say the chip shortage will persist well into 2021. Here's how the global semiconductor chip shortage got so bad and what's being done to fix it.