There was a time when, if you wanted to make semiconductor integrated circuits and chips, you had to have your own fabrication facility or fab. Back then, the semiconductor industry was vertically integrated, with companies owning and operating their fabs and performing the assembly and testing of their own chips.

The global semiconductor shortage has opened the door for criminals who want to cash in on the scarcity of these valuable components. According to the Wall Street Journal, this has pushed some buyers to take risks that they may not have even considered before.

Micron Technology, the largest American memory chip maker, said some customers in the personal computer space are paring DRAM and NAND purchases amid an ongoing shortage of other chips. And it is taking a toll.

COVID-19 has sent traumatic ripples through supply chains around the globe, but the semiconductor supply chain was fragile long before governments shut down and catastrophe struck. In a culmination of negative variables, the chip shortage has amassed over the years from a series of unfortunate events.

Manufacturers are warning that further disruption to China's energy supply would wreak havoc on the tech supply chain as the industry prepares for peak production season, including that of the latest iPhones.

Many experts believe that the global chip shortage could extend deep into 2022—only fueling existing concerns over semiconductor availability.

Memory-chip giant Micron Technology this afternoon reported fiscal Q4 revenue and profit that both topped Wall Street's expectations, but an outlook for the current quarter's revenue and profit that was well below consensus.

The global chip shortage has plagued the electronic industry for close to a year. But a majority of electronics manufacturers now say they are also struggling to hire workers to run their factories, leading to longer delays in shipping products.

In 2001, there was so much excess component inventory in the supply chain that more than $13 billion worth of semiconductors alone was written down or off by component makers, distributors and customers. People still wince at the memory.

There are many horror stories. A Japanese manufacturer turned to e-commerce giant Alibaba, unable to procure semiconductors from regular channels due to a global chip shortage. But when the chips arrived, they didn’t turn on.