Chip firms play down Ukraine war supply fears

A man sporting a ribbon bearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag uses a smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. While automakers and some parts of the IT sector have been hard hit by pandemic-induced shortages, smartphone makers have weathered the storm a little better. — AFP

BARCELONA: The tech industry is playing down fears of widespread raw materials shortages as a result of the war in Ukraine, after reports that chipmakers would face a severe crunch.

Russia and Ukraine are key suppliers of neon, a gas used in the lasers that etch microscopic patterns on to tiny slivers of silicon.