What you need to know
- The global chip shortage will have a major impact on the tech industry next quarter.
- Samsung may chose to delay the release of the next Galaxy Note due to the issue.
The world's chip shortage seems to be affecting everyone except Apple right now.
As reported by Bloomberg, Samsung, the world's largest chipmaker, is warning that the shortage may have a material impact on it and other companies next quarter. According to the report, the company might skip the release of a new generation of the Galaxy Note, its flagship smartphone.
Samsung, one of the world's largest makers of chips and consumer electronics, expects the crunch to pose a problem to its business next quarter, co-Chief Executive Officer Koh Dong-jin said during an annual shareholders meeting in Seoul. The company is also considering skipping the introduction of a new Galaxy Note -- one of its best-selling models -- this year, though Koh said that was geared toward streamlining its lineup.
Co-Chief Executive Officer Koh Dong-jin says that there is a "serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector globally."
"There's a serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector globally," said Koh, who oversees the company's IT and mobile divisions. "Despite the difficult environment, our business leaders are meeting partners overseas to solve these problems. It's hard to say the shortage issue has been solved 100%."
However, according to MS Hwang, an analyst at Samsung Securities, the tightened supply is affecting everyone but Apple.
"The tightened supply of Qualcomm AP chips produced by TSMC is affecting everybody except Apple ... PCs will soon be hit due to the short supply of display driver ICs, and the profitability of TV will be affected by soaring LCD panel prices."
If you're struggling to find a PC due to the shortage and want to try a Mac, check out our list of the Best Mac of 2021.
Apple does currently source components from a range of supplier across the world for its products. However, it is making major moves to bring some of those in-house. The company released the first computers packed with its own Apple silicon processors last year and has been making its own custom chips for the iPhone and iPad since their inception.
The company also has plans to drop Qualcomm as a supplier of its cellular modem and create its own chip there as well.
