“Notable slowdown” in lead times suggests chip shortage may have peaked

Delivery times for chips barely grew last month compared with September, according to research by Susquehanna Financial Group. On average, lead times increased by about one day to 21.9 weeks – the smallest gain in nine months. This may point to the chip shortage having peaked, but Susquehanna analyst Chris Rolland isn’t sure about this. “While our data doesn’t confirm the top of the semi cycle, and this data has had some false positives in the past, we believe the slowdown is notable,” he said.