Cars need a lot of chips these days. That has been a godsend for the semiconductor industry—and also a big complication. 

The industry has been mired in a historic slump for more than a year now. The Semiconductor Industry Association, or SIA, reported last week that global chip sales in September fell 4.5% from the same period last year. That made for the 14th straight month of sales declines—a streak not seen in more than a decade. Much of the downturn has been due to weak sales of PCs, smartphones and other consumer and business electronics that saw a rise in demand earlier in the pandemic.