*Samsung Electronics states it foresees a 鈥榮erious imbalance鈥� in global semiconductors spreading beyond the automaking industry, as it is considering skipping the introduction of a new Galaxy Note

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

Samsung Electronics Company, one of the world鈥檚 largest makers of chips and consumer electronics, reportedly expects the chip crunch to pose a problem to its business next quarter.

The global tech giant has cautioned consumers that it is grappling with the fallout from a 鈥渟erious imbalance鈥� in semiconductors globally.

绿帽献妻 gathered the company is becoming the largest tech giant to voice concerns about chip shortages spreading beyond the automaking industry.

Samsung, one of the world鈥檚 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鈥� meeting in Seoul.

It 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.

In the same vein, report says industry giants from Continental AG to Renesas Electronics Corp. and Innolux Corp. in recent weeks have equally warned of longer-than-anticipated deficits, thanks to unprecedented Covid-19 era demand for everything from cars to game consoles and mobile devices.

Koh, who oversees the company鈥檚 IT and mobile divisions, said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector globally.

鈥淒espite the difficult environment, our business leaders are meeting partners overseas to solve these problems. It鈥檚 hard to say the shortage issue has been solved 100%.鈥�

Samsung, the world鈥檚 largest smartphone maker, is working with overseas partners to resolve the imbalance and avert potential setbacks to its business, its co-CEO said.

Its shares slid 0.6% in Seoul Wednesday, March 17 while suppliers and Asian chipmakers including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and SK Hynix Inc. also fell.

Meanwhile, chipmakers like Samsung and TSMC are at the forefront of a global effort to plug a shortfall in supply of semiconductors, the building blocks of a plethora of consumer gadgets, report said.

MS Hwang, analyst at Samsung Securities, also disclosed the 鈥渢ightened supply of Qualcomm AP chips produced by TSMC is affecting everybody except Apple.

鈥淧Cs 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.鈥�

Compounding matters, Samsung鈥檚 own production got sideswiped last month. Its fab in Austin, Texas, which makes chips both for internal and external consumption, was sidelined in February by statewide power outages and hasn鈥檛 resumed full production. The resulting shortfall in production of Qualcomm 5G radio frequency chips could reduce global smartphone output by 5% in the second quarter, research firm Trendforce estimates.

But the outage there is likely to affect Samsung鈥檚 mid-tier phones and laptops more than its top-of-the-range models or server chips, said Greg Roh, a Senior Vice-President at HMC Securities.

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