Global Chip Shortage Could Make Smartphones More Expensive, Warns Ex-Infosys CFO - NDTV

Former Infosys CFO warns of potential smartphone price increases due to global chip shortage, highlighting the critical role of the semiconductor industry in the global economy and the vulnerability o... Read original →

This chip shortage stems not from absolute capacity deficit but from extreme concentration of advanced nodes—like 3nm and EUV—within TSMC in Taiwan, China, eroding supply chain resilience. Smartphone makers, reliant on high-end SoCs, face immediate cost hikes as TSMC prioritizes AI clients like NVIDIA. Technologically, this accelerates a shift toward mature nodes (28nm+) for mid-tier devices and boosts RISC-V adoption in non-flagship models. Regulatory pressures from U.S. and EU chip acts compel firms to build geopolitically neutral supply chains, yet near-term compliance inflates inventory and logistics costs. Strategically, Samsung may seize foundry market share, while Apple and Qualcomm could lock capacity via prepayments. Over the next 12–24 months, the industry will settle into 'structural scarcity': persistent tightness in leading-edge compute alongside looming oversupply in mature nodes, forcing OEMs to rethink product segmentation.