Q2 2026 Market Insights 1 - Flipbook - Page 5
Automotive and EV Semiconductor Demand
Stays Resilient
Component Supply Crunch Deepens in Q2 2026 as
Lead Times and Prices Rise Across the Board
Automotive and EV semiconductor demand remained
stable throughout Q2 2026, particularly across power
semiconductors, silicon carbide (SiC), automotive
MCUs, and analogue components. According
to Ample Solutions, suppliers including Texas
Instruments, Infineon Technologies, and Analog
Devices implemented additional pricing increases
across automotive and industrial product categories
during April 2026. Demand linked to EV power
systems, industrial automation, and energy-efficient
technologies continued supporting strong order
activity despite ongoing supply pressures.
The Q2 2026 market data reveals a broad based
deterioration in component availability, with 9 out
of 11 tracked categories showing worsening pricing
or lead time conditions compared to Q1. (Based on
Rebound Electronics’ Trendliners Q1 Vs. Q2 2026)
Memory has seen the sharpest shift, with NOR, NAND,
eMMC, and DRAM lead times extending to 28+ weeks,
driven directly by surging AI server and HBM demand,
whilst programmable logic has reached a critical
42+ weeks, up from 18+ in Q1. MCUs, standard logic,
and analog components have similarly moved in the
wrong direction, with pricing trends turning upward
across families that were holding stable just one
quarter ago. The sole areas of relief are low and mid
power LEDs, now at 4–10 weeks, and select power
discretes improving marginally, but these bright spots
do little to offset what is shaping up to be the tightest
supply environment seen in several quarters.
New Fab Investments Accelerate Globally
Global semiconductor manufacturers continued
accelerating fab expansion and localisation
strategies during Q2 2026 as governments and
companies prioritised supply chain resilience and
AI capacity growth. According to reports cited by
Reuters, TSMC plans to expand advanced-node and
CoWoS packaging capacity aggressively through
2028, while Japan’s Rapidus continued progressing
next-generation semiconductor manufacturing
projects. Industry investment remained heavily
concentrated on AI-related infrastructure, advanced
logic, HBM, and packaging technologies rather than
mature consumer-focused capacity.
General Market Insights
5
