The chip shortage, which started from late December, was caused in part as automakers miscalculated demand and pandemic-fueled sales of smartphones and laptops surged. This forced carmakers to cut production, and lifted costs for smartphone makers.

As a result, every company that uses chips in its products purchases even more to shore up its stockpile. The shortage has blindsided not only carmakers and smartphone makers, but appliance makers too.

“It becomes more and more difficult and expensive to get enough of the microcontrollers that sit as the heart of our products such as fridges and microwave ovens,” said by CEO of SMAD, Steven Wang.

Misfortunes never come singly. The prices of aluminum are in a 3 year’s high of numerous exchanges around the world. Not only aluminum, but the prices of almost all raw materials are increasing.

The refrigerator industry is suffering from rising raw material prices around the world and the impact of chip shortages. The most obvious is the uncontrollable rise in prices. To cope with this shock, Smad puts itself in the shoes of its customers and tries to minimize the damage.

Firstly, Smad always focuses on the R&D ability. Recently, we have successfully developed new products. On the basis of ensuring the same product volume, we have made some changes on product structure (e.g., make the handle recessed), so increased the packing capacity and reduced the transportation cost.

Secondly, in terms of raw materials, our factory has some inventories of raw materials for some popular products. This gives us the chance to minimize the impact of price rise of raw materials on customers to the greatest extent, so as to avoid price surge in a short time and give customers buffer time.

Thirdly, with more than 20 years of operation, we have established a long-term and stable cooperative relationship with the top forwarder, so as to obtain the best shipping price.

Moreover, we have communicated with customers, provided them with preparation time and coping methods, and helped them make order planning in advance to avoid greater impact of the rising trend.

Nobody can get rid of the impact, what SMAD is doing is to minimize the impact for our customers. We sincerely hope that everyone can understand each other.