It's been a difficult year for shoppers looking for cars, electronics and anything that requires a computer chip. A global semiconductor shortage has left many companies unable to fill orders or even finish products they've started assembling, clogging up warehouses and leaving a lack of inventory across the nation. Buying a new PlayStation 5 console remains nearly impossible. Several automakers have slowed down production in their factories, delaying shipments of new vehicles. It's even impacted more obscure products--just try to find an affordable dog washing booth these days.

The year-end and New Year's shopping blitz is lacking steam in Japan due to stalled goods production blamed on shortages of semiconductors and other parts and components. "A wide range of consumer electronics have been affected" by the parts shortages, an industry analyst said. Sony's PlayStation 5 video game console marked cumulative sales of 10 million units in July this year, only about eight months after it was released in November 2020, reaching the milestone faster than any other PlayStation model. But PS5 is now seen selling for over ¥100,000, double its regular price, on online flea markets amid a supply shortage. Last month, Nintendo Co. lowered the fiscal 2021 sales estimate for its Nintendo Switch game console to 24 million units from 25.5 million units.

A pandemic-fueled run on computers helped HP Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. deliver strong financial results for the latest quarter despite a semiconductor shortage that is denting some industries. Dell on Thursday reported that first-quarter revenue rose 12% to $24.5 billion from a year earlier driven by a 42% jump in consumer revenue within the client solutions group that includes desktops and notebooks. The strong start to its business year comes after Dell, in February, reported record full-year revenue. Personal-computer sales registered their strongest growth in a decade last year, underscoring a shift from mobile devices brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, according to industry data. PC shipments overall rose 13% in 2020 and are expected to increase 18% in 2021 despite the semiconductor shortage, according to International Data Corp. "We continue to see very strong demand on the consumer side, and the demand on the commercial side is also starting to strengthen as offices reopen," said HP Chief Executive Enrique Lores.

We are currently in the midst of a global semiconductor shortage that is negatively impacting the entire technology supply chain. With multiple markets struggling to source chips and other related materials, the supply of everything from automobiles to graphics cards for PC gaming is too thin to meet demand and prices have skyrocketed. As detrimental as the current semiconductor shortage is, however, another challenging shortage may be looming, and it's one that could stall development and innovation of new chips and processors worldwide, without a sea change in how chips are designed. Synopsys CEO Aart de Geus, however, believes his company and its advanced AI design automation tools may have an answer. Pundits have been proclaiming the death of Moore's Law for many years.

General Motors GM closed down 0.12% on Monday, ending the week at $57.15 on the back of almost 11.5 million trades. As this stock's popularity remains high, its prices have soared significantly over the last year – almost double its five-year highs. However, recent days have seen GM slip, as reflected in the 10-day price average of $57.41. General Motors Co. is the largest U.S.-based automaker. They engage in designing, manufacturing, and selling vehicles and their component parts around the world under popular brands such as Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and of course, GMC. The company has seen a lot of turbulence over the last decades, but surprisingly, post-pandemic life has soothed some of the hurt with increased vehicle sales, which in turn has reflected positively on its stock.