The report claims vendors are making aggressive moves to secure enough component supply to ensure they have enough product for the end-of-year sales. HP and Dell reportedly increased their laptop shipments forecasts for the second half of 2016 and the first half of 2017.
Here's a brief overview of the supply situation for some of the components that are in short supply:
Panel shortages occurred the earliest and are rather serious currently as most vendors are not able to secure a sufficient volume of supply even if they are willing to pay extra. Most vendors have been seeking for new supply sources.The stronger demand for laptops is attributed to the low channel inventory, Intel's new processor lineup, rising acceptance for Windows 10 and consumers replacing their old laptops. Furthermore, the report also mentions that the bankruptcy of South Korea's largest container shipper, Hanjin, is causing some logistics problems.
Demand for SSDs has also been picking up dramatically in the past few years as the component has become necessary for ultra-thin notebooks. Apple's releases of the ultra-thin MacBook Pro, has triggered more vendors to design similar products, and also has had some contribution to rising SSD demand.
As for batteries, since most lithium battery makers have turned their focus from the notebook market to the electric vehicle market, notebook vendors are also seeing trouble acquiring sufficient battery supply for their products.