Report: Chip shortage will have a bigger impact on smartphones for the rest of this year

A shortage of chips and other electronic components has been affecting several industries over the past year, though smartphones have only experienced minor effects to date. Unfortunately, things may get a bit worse according to a new report.

Counterpoint Research says that the chip shortage is “hitting [the] smartphone industry hard” and, as a result, the forecast for smartphone shipments in 2021 has been lowered to 1.41 billion units, down from 1.45 billion units. This change is due, in part, to some smartphone makers reporting lower volumes in Q2, a problem that’s only gotten worse in Q3.

Some smartphone makers are currently reporting that they are only receiving approximately 70% of requested volumes, down from 80% in Q2. Counterpoint believes that 90% of the smartphone industry is being hit by this problem.

…some smartphone OEMs and vendors are reporting they had only received 80% of their requested volumes on key components during Q2 2021, and the situation seems to be getting worse as we move through Q3 2021. Some smartphone makers are now saying they are only receiving 70% of their requests, creating multiple problems. Counterpoint Research believes 90% of the industry is affected and this will impact the second half forecast for 2021.

Apple is reportedly the “most resilient” when it comes to shortages of application processors. Meanwhile, smartphone makers including Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo are being impacted by lower yield rates for Qualcomm and MediaTek. One example of these effects may be the Galaxy S21 FE, which has seemingly been canceled due to the chip shortage.