Taiwan’s major semiconductor manufacturers, a crucial link in the global tech supply chain, scrambled March 14 to gauge how their access to raw materials from Japanese suppliers will be affected by the powerful earthquake in Japan. United Microelectronics, ProMOS Technologies, and other companies said they were unsure how long inventories of wafer stock such as silicon would last and how disruptions in transportation or power following the quake on will upset supplies. Most can get by for 1 to 2 months, analysts believe. Japan supplies an estimated 50 percent of raw 12-inch wafers and 30 percent of raw 8-inch wafers to Taiwan. Any halt in supplies would likely raise prices paid by semiconductor customers such as Apple, and ultimately by buyers of PCs, smartphones, and electronic gadgetry.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9214438/Taiwanese_semiconductor_firms_face_supply_shortages_in_Japan