Yahoo TV

Makers of cars and electronic devices from TVs to smartphones are sounding alarm bells.

As consumer demand bounces back from the pandemic, they say a global shortage of chips is causing manufacturing delays.

Industry executives and analysts say there are a number of issues behind the shortage.

Bulk-buying by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies for one, after being hit with U.S. sanctions.

Analysts say this was aggravated by rivals such as Xiaomi seeking to gain market share by stepping up orders of components.

A fire at a chip plant in Japan has also impacted supply.

As did lockdowns in Southeast Asia.

And a strike at a chipmaker in France.

Others say there has also been under-investment in some plants, mostly owned mostly by Asian firms and making older types of chips.

That's causing a struggle to ramp up production as demand for 5G phones, laptops and cars picks up faster than expected.

The world's top contract chip maker - Taiwan's TSMC - would only say that its capacity was 'tight'.

But a source at a Japanese electronics component supplier said it was seeing shortages of WiFi and Bluetooth semiconductors.

The auto industry in China flagged the issue earlier this month.

It's expecting production at some Chinese carmakers could be affected in the first quarter of next year.

Consumer demand in China, especially for cars, has snapped back unexpectedly quickly from the coronavirus crisis.

But so too have orders for products such as laptops and mobile phones in regions still struggling with pandemic restrictions.

Particularly in Europe and the United States, where millions have switched to remote working.