A report from Reuters reveals that Qualcomm is the latest tech company that’s facing a chip shortage.
One of the factors leading to this is the increased demand for its chips after the US added Huawei to its blacklist. Customers have abandoned Huawei smartphones switching over to devices powered by the American chips. The chip makers have found it hard to meet the higher-than-expected demand partly due to a shortage in subcomponents.
According to the report, “One person at a Samsung supplier said a Qualcomm chip shortage was hitting the production of mid-and low-end Samsung models.”
Lu Weibing, Vice President for Xiaomi, wrote “It’s not a shortage, it’s an extreme shortage,” on Weibo which further shows the situation.
To add to the higher demands, the American chip maker has also been affected by the Samsung factory shut down due to the extreme weather in Texas which brought down the power grid in the state for several days. The foundry produces USD 3.7 billion worth of chips a year and among the clients that benefit include Qualcomm and Tesla. This is where the American chipmaker gets its radio frequency transceivers.
“We still have our demand basically higher than supply,” Qualcomm incoming Chief Executive Cristiano Amon told investors during the company’s annual meeting.
Reuter also reports that companies started “panic buying” chips amidst the chip shortage which has driven up costs of even the cheapest components of nearly all microchips.
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Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
