Turin (Italy) (AFP)

Elon Musk, the boss of electric vehicle maker Tesla, said Friday that the semiconductor shortage is expected to end soon, thanks to new chip factories emerging from the ground.

This crisis should be resolved "in the short term", he assured during a remote intervention during the Italian Tech Week in Turin, which brings together start-ups, investment funds and entrepreneurs from around the world since Thursday. of technology.

"There are a lot of chip factories being built," the multi-billionaire argued, adding that the increase in capacity should "deliver chips by next year".

In the automotive sector, demand for components is very strong to fuel the boom in electric vehicles, in a context of resumption of activity after the lifting of health restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, manufacturers find themselves in competition with other chip-intensive industries - computers, smartphones, connected objects - which capture a large part of the supply.

Tesla has so far been able to get around much of the shortage by using new chip designs and rewriting software accordingly.

The group delivered a record number of vehicles in the second quarter, nearly doubling sales and increasing net income, which for the first time exceeded $ 1 billion.

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