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The chip shortage has caused at least one new flagship phone to go out of stock
- Black Shark has confirmed that its newly launched flagship phone is out of stock due to the chip shortage.
- This means the chip shortage is affecting current devices too rather than just upcoming phones.
We’ve already heard suggestions that upcoming device launches could be affected by the ongoing chip shortage, but it looks like the supply issue is affecting newly released devices too.
Black Shark CEO Luo Yuzhou revealed on Weibo (h/t: Gizmochina) that the Black Shark 4 series and the Black Shark 4 Pro in particular is out of stock due to the chip shortage. The executive added that the shortage was “very large,” according machine-translation, and that it was hard at work to increase device production.
We wonder what the semiconductor shortage means for upcoming devices if current phones are feeling the pressure too. Google may have given us a hint of how it’s coping with the chip shortage, as it revealed the upcoming Pixel 5a would be coming to the US and Japan. This doesn’t mean the phone won’t be coming to other locales, but it certainly suggests the shortage is forcing the company to prioritize markets.
Related: What the global chip shortage means for you and your tech
Other phones expected for release later in 2021 include the ASUS Zenfone 8 series, Google Pixel 6, the OnePlus 9T range, and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. We’ll just have to wait to find out whether the semiconductor shortage affects these devices too.
For what it’s worth, Xiaomi has previously suggested it might have to increase the price of its phones if the chip shortage leads to component costs increasing too. So even if upcoming devices are available in your region, you might have to pay a premium for them.