He went on to say this is “the most extreme” instance of supply and demand mismatch he has ever seen. Segars said that waiting times for chipsets in some cases was up to 60 weeks, as per the BBC. “If you haven’t bought all your devices yet, you might be disappointed,” he said while speaking at the Web Summit event in Lisbon, Portugal. Segars attributed the chip shortage to a number of factors, including high demand for devices amid the pandemic. A majority of the global population was forced to adapt to remote work and learning as a consequence.
Segars said that “just building factories” would not do enough
He also pointed out the surge in demand for cars as well as the political tensions between Asia and the West. The Arm chief said that “just building factories” would not be sufficient, claiming that the industry is already spending $2 billion per week to increase capacity. Experts have said that the widespread rollout of 5G, U.S. sanctions on Huawei, as well as companies stockpiling chips may have made matters worse. In June, the CEO of Intel warned that the chip shortage could potentially last for a “couple of years.” The chip shortage has led to the delay or cancellation of a few mobile devices already. Prominent among them is the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. Originally scheduled to launch a few months ago, the phone’s release will now reportedly take place in January 2022. This also likely means the Galaxy S22 flagship won’t arrive until February. Consumers are also bearing the brunt of this global crisis. As losses pile up for the manufacturers, the cost is passed down to the customers. A bulk of the phones launched in 2021 already come with an increased price tag. It now seems likely that prices could increase further next year. The semiconductor shortfall has hit companies like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo pretty hard. But analysts say Apple was the least affected.
