Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm (pictured) predicted a global chip shortage would continue into 2022, increasing the liklihood the vendor would be affected after so far managing to mitigate the impact.

At the company’s Ericsson UnBoxed event, Ekholm noted the shortage had a limited impact on it so far, with expectations it would continue to avoid any significant repurcussions in the near term.

Ekholm noted Ericsson began diversifying its supplier base almost three years ago, helping it weather current shortages and leaving it positioned to “be able to continue to supply our customers like we have in the past”.

But, he conceded the longer the shortage persists “the more risk it will be for us”. Given the “lead time to increase capacity is long”, Ekholm expects the shortage to last.

He said global demand for chipsets is increasing with digitalisation, making more capacity critical.

Smaller US operators recently told the Federal Communications Commission they need more time to replace Huawei equipment due to the chip market woes.