2021-05-14 - Global semiconductor shortage & its impact

Dear Valued Customer,

We hope you all are doing well during these undoubtedly, challenging times.

The main reason for this specific announcement (as you would’ve deduced from the ‘Subject’), is to discuss the current global semiconductor shortage & its impact. Below are a few Q&As that will hopefully answer some of your questions but please feel free to reach out to our Sales-team with any further questions you may have regarding this…

• What is impacted?
  In this modern-age where ‘everyday life’ includes interaction with electronic products for the vast majority of people...absolutely everything is affected! Unfortunately our digital pens are no exception & our manufacturing timelines have been negatively impacted by this. As without semiconductors, we are not able to manufacturer new pens.

• What has caused this shortage?
  From news reports, it appears that the main reasons are…
  1) The COVID pandemic has resulted in most people having to work from home on a more regular basis. This resulted in a surge of new electronic equipment being purchased, as people were fitting out their new 'home offices'.
  2) A recent fire at a key semiconductor supplier in Japan.

• How long will it last?
  The unofficial consensus is that the expected delays could be anywhere from 6-12 months.

• Does Anoto have any semiconductors?
  At present, we do have some semiconductor stock that we are using in production…and have some more on back-order! We are doing everything in our power to mitigate the impact of this on our customers but there is unfortunately no getting away from the business impact this is bound to have, globally, on everyone. We do aim to use our available semiconductor stock as sensibly as possible, as we have multiple pen models across Anoto AND Livescribe to support.

• What are Anoto’s ‘lead times’ at the moment when it comes to new pen orders?
  We unfortunately have no clear indication regarding potential 'lead times' at the moment and would suggest that you check back monthly regarding new stock.

We do apologize for the inconvenience & appreciate your understanding regarding this.