The boss of the US tech giant IBM has said a computer chip shortage could last another two years.

Its President Jim Whitehurst told the BBC it could be "a few years" before the situation improves.

Many firms have seen production delayed because of a lack of semiconductors, triggered by the pandemic.

The shortage has been exacerbated by surging demand for TVs, phones and gaming consoles while consumers are stuck at home.

Mr Whitehurst said on BBC World Business News: "There's just a big lag between from when a technology is developed and when [a fabrication plant] goes into construction and when chips come out".

"So frankly, we are looking at couple of yearsโ€ฆ before we get enough incremental capacity online to alleviate all aspects of the chip shortage."

IBM licenses its microprocessor technology to the world's biggest chip makers such as Intel, TSMC and Samsung.
Mr Whitehurst added that the firm would have to look at alternative ways to meet consumer demand.

"We're going to have to look at reusing, extending the life of certain types of computing technologies, as well as accelerating investment in these [fabricating plants], to be able to as quickly as possible get more capacity online," he said.

The shortage, which was heightened after many factories shut down at the height of the pandemic, has been exacerbated by surging demand for home computers, gaming consoles and smartphones.

Apple, the world's biggest buyer of semiconductors, was forced to delay the launch of its latest iPhone due to the shortage,.

Mr Whitehurst is the latest tech boss to weigh in on the issue.

The boss of networking giant Cisco, Chuck Robbins, told the BBC in April that he believed the shortage would last at least another six months.

Src: bbc news

15644 views

IBM says chip shortage could last two years

Uploaded to โ€” 2 years ago

The boss of the US tech giant IBM has said a computer chip shortage could last another two years.

Its President Jim Whitehurst told the BBC it could be "a few years" before the situation improves.

Many firms have seen production delayed because of a lack of semiconductors, triggered by the pandemic.

The shortage has been exacerbated by surging demand for TVs, phones and gaming consoles while consumers are stuck at home.

Mr Whitehurst said on BBC World Business News: "There's just a big lag between from when a technology is developed and when [a fabrication plant] goes into construction and when chips come out".

"So frankly, we are looking at couple of yearsโ€ฆ before we get enough incremental capacity online to alleviate all aspects of the chip shortage."

IBM licenses its microprocessor technology to the world's biggest chip makers such as Intel, TSMC and Samsung.
Mr Whitehurst added that the firm would have to look at alternative ways to meet consumer demand.

"We're going to have to look at reusing, extending the life of certain types of computing technologies, as well as accelerating investment in these [fabricating plants], to be able to as quickly as possible get more capacity online," he said.

The shortage, which was heightened after many factories shut down at the height of the pandemic, has been exacerbated by surging demand for home computers, gaming consoles and smartphones.

Apple, the world's biggest buyer of semiconductors, was forced to delay the launch of its latest iPhone due to the shortage,.

Mr Whitehurst is the latest tech boss to weigh in on the issue.

The boss of networking giant Cisco, Chuck Robbins, told the BBC in April that he believed the shortage would last at least another six months.

Src: bbc news

Edit or resize any image by clicking the image preview
Edit any image by touching the image preview
Uploading 0 image (0% complete)
The queue is being uploaded, it should take just a few seconds to complete.
Upload complete
Uploaded content added to . You can create a new album with the content just uploaded.
Uploaded content added to .
You can create a new album with the content just uploaded. You must create an account or sign in to save this content into your account.
No image have been uploaded
Some errors have occurred and the system couldn't process your request.
    or cancelcancel remaining
    Note: Some images couldn't be uploaded. learn more
    Check the error report for more information.
    JPG PNG BMP GIF WEBP 16 MB