The last major semiconductor shortage happened during the Covid-19 pandemic amid supply chain disruption and a rise in demand for consumer electronics as people were forced to stay and work at home.
These are often referred to as AI-enabled devices and companies from Samsung to Microsoft have released such products.
Bain said demand for GPUs and AI consumer electronics could be the cause of a chip shortage.
Bain & Company noted that the semiconductor supply chain is "incredibly complex, and a demand increase of about 20% or more has a high likelihood of upsetting the equilibrium and causing a chip shortage."
"The AI explosion across the confluence of the large end markets could easily surpass that threshold, creating vulnerable chokepoints throughout the supply chain," the report added.
Persons:
Bain, Anne Hoecker
Organizations:
Bain & Company, Technology, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung, Microsoft, CNBC
Locations:
Americas