--- title: "Supply Chain Games: What Have We Learned From the Great Semiconductor Shortage of 2021? (Part 1)" url: https://daily.dev/posts/supply-chain-games-what-have-we-learned-from-the-great-semiconductor-shortage-of-2021-part-1--lrqsngvsn source_url: https://www.embeddedrelated.com/showarticle/1440.php type: article source: "EmbeddedRelated" published: 2026-05-31T07:48:05.108Z updated: 2026-05-31T09:19:47.247Z tags: ["embedded", "supply-chain"] reading_time: 31 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Supply Chain Games: What Have We Learned From the Great Semiconductor Shortage of 2021? (Part 1) **[EmbeddedRelated](https://daily.dev/sources/embeddedrelated)** · 31 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An in-depth analysis of the 2021 semiconductor shortage, arguing that COVID-19 was a catalyst rather than the root cause. The piece traces structural imbalances in the semiconductor supply chain — including constrained 200mm wafer fabs, mature-node economics, and long inherent lead times — and shows how demand shocks from the pandemic exposed these weaknesses. Concrete examples like GM removing heated seats from vehicles illustrate the real-world impact. The bullwhip effect and inventory hoarding dynamics (paralleled with the 2020 toilet paper shortage) are used to explain why supply-demand imbalances are so hard to correct quickly. Part 1 of a series, it uses games like Lemonade Stand to make supply chain economics tangible. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: --- Tags: [#embedded](https://daily.dev/tags/embedded), [#supply-chain](https://daily.dev/tags/supply-chain) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/supply-chain-games-what-have-we-learned-from-the-great-semiconductor-shortage-of-2021-part-1--lrqsngvsn)