Jim Whitehurst, IBM president, told the BBC the shortage will continue because it takes a long time to build new fabs.

“There’s just a big lag between when a technology is developed and when [a fab] goes into construction and when chips come out. So frankly, we are looking at couple of years... before we get enough incremental capacity online to alleviate all aspects of the chip shortage”, Whitehurst warned.

Whitehurts' comments closely mirror what Intel CEO Kicking Pat Gelsinger had to say about the chip shortage last month.

“We do believe we have the ability to help. I think this is a couple of years until you are totally able to address it. It just takes a couple of years to build capacity.”

TSMC does not think there will be a quick end to the chip crisis. No end in sight this year, and maybe next, at least.

TSMC boss Dr. C.C. Wei also said in mid-April that": We see the demand continue to be high. In 2023, I hope we can offer more capacity to support our customers. At that time, we'll start to see the supply chain tightness release a little bit."