Samsung Mobile not Confident Chip Supply Issues will be Resolved in 2022
The two biggest shortages for Samsung’s mobile division will continue to be application processors (also known as SoCs) and radio frequency (RF) components. Considering that these are key components of any modern smartphone, it’s not hard to see why Samsung would be concerned. What we don’t know is how much of an advantage Samsung’s various business units have when they work with Samsung’s foundries and we might have reached a point where the highest bidder wins the allocation.
It’s also interesting to note that Samsung Mobile believes that Qualcomm is likely to focus on its high margin products next year, simply due to the higher costs incurred when making chips at the moment. The fact that Qualcomm has switched over to Samsung’s foundries for some parts makes this comment almost seem like insider information, since Samsung’s foundry business would have a certain amount of insight into the products that Qualcomm has ordered from them.
That said, Samsung Mobile will apparently be try to sign longer term contracts with the Samsung foundry business, while at the same time trying to build up a four week stockpile worth of components,, which should be compared to its current two week stockpile. Even so, four weeks worth of parts doesn’t really seem like a huge stockpile, considering some commonly used components from Samsung’s competitors have a lead time of 52 weeks or more. Regardless if this plan has enough foresight or not, it looks like consumers are going to have to expect a continued shortage of a wide range of products next year too.