Texas Instruments will be back to an eight week lead-time by Q2 2011, according to the president for TI Europe, Jean-Francois Fau.
"60% of our products are on lead-times of less than 12 weeks," Fau told EW at Electronica.
Asked if he had lost any customers because of the shortages, Fau replied: "Where we had sole-sourced products, we put in place a scheme to support customer demand to stop any significant delivery issues," adding, "when the supply situation is tight you have a lot of new customers knocking on your door."
Asked if he could now give guarantees on delivery times, Fau replied: "It’s difficult to give guarantees. When we sign a purchase agreement we warrant a lead-time, and we stick to this. Customers are requesting a warranted lead-time."
Had he gained any customers as a result of the shortages for instance in automotive ICs?
"The automotive cycle is too long to take advantage of the deficiencies of our competitors in areas like engine control units," replied Fau, "but we have picked up market share in peripheral areas like dashboard controls and infotainment."
TI, which is bringing up four new analogue fabs with two more waiting to be equipped, has put the fear of God into competitors who think it will crush them on price.
"We’re not trying to kill people on price," Fau reassured his competition, "our first rationale is capacity."