Chip Shortage Spreading to IT Industry

Samsung Electronics is flooded with orders for mobile chips.

The global semiconductor shortage, which has started in the automobile sector, is spreading to the information technology (IT) industry. Semiconductor industry watchers say that Samsung Electronics is not even able to produce semiconductors for its own strategic smartphones as planned due to a flood of orders from large customers around the world.


Samsung Electronics' Foundry Business Department is expected to be unable to meet demand for its 5-nm mobile application processor Exynos 2100 from the company’s Wireless Business Department. It goes the same for the Exynos 1080. The Foundry Business Department is forced to reduce Exynos chip supply as its limited 5-nm lines are unable to meet orders from major customers. The Foundry Business Department needs to allocate production volume to customers as it cannot meet all orders. As the company has to adjust the output of the Exynos, it may reduce the production volume of Qualcomm chips.

The Exynos 2100 goes into the Galaxy S21 series, Samsung’s latest strategic flagship smartphone, while the Exynos 1080 is used for the Galaxy A series and China's Vivo smartphones. The Wireless Business Department has been put on alert ahead of the launch of the Galaxy S21 scheduled for the end of January. IT market experts estimate global sales of the Galaxy S21 at 28 million to 30 million units in 2021, with 60 percent of them to be loaded with the Exynos 2100.

As a mobile AP shortage has become a reality, following the shortage of automotive chips, concerns are raised that the chip shortage will lead to an overall shortage of IT devices and home appliances and finally a spike in their prices.

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