Despite being one of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers, Samsung may skip the launch of a new phone due to chip supply issues.

“There’s a serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector globally,” Samsung's co-chief executive and mobile chief, Koh Dong-jin, said at a shareholder meeting.

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Take note, there's no new Note till 2022

In 2020, Automotive manufacturers shut down factories due to supply constraints, while the newly-released Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 have remained perpetually sold out.

With supply issues likely to consider for some time - exacerbated further by the Texas storm taking down a Samsung fab, and a fire taking out a Renesas fab - Samsung said it was considering delaying the release of a new Galaxy Note smartphone into 2022.

“It could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year,” Koh said.

Demand for data center servers has been increasing for years, but spiked with the digital boom brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is expected to continue to increase, adding pressure to the strained semiconductor market.

By 2025, hyperscale data centers are predicted to double to 1,060, SK Hynix CEO Lee Seok-hee said in a keynote this month.