The Little Known Ukrainian Industry That Threatens To Make The Global Semi Shortage Far Worse

Right about the time the world was hoping to rise out of a semiconductor crisis, we’re learning that the conflict in Ukraine could plunge the world further back into a chip shortage.

Little known companies like Ukraine’s Cryoin play large roles in the global production of semiconductors, Wired noted this week. Cryoin, for example, makes the neon gas used to power lasers that make patterns on chips.

It supplies to the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan – and the ripple effects of disruption in its supply “can be felt around the world,” the report says.

Business development director Larissa Bondarenko told Wired that production came to a halt after Russia’s invasion last Thursday. “We decided that [our employees] should stay at home for the next couple of days until the situation is clearer, to make sure that everyone is safe,” she said.

She has said there’s no damage to the facility as of yet. “Cryoin has enough supplies to keep production going until the end of March,” the report says. – READ MORE