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Local Bluetooth module makers said that CSR has extended its lead time to three months. Furthermore, as the new Bluetooth 1.2 version has recently been approved, CSR has been more conservative in placing orders of Bluetooth chips supporting the 1.1 specification at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), resulting in even tighter supply.

The shortage is not just in Asia, but a worldwide problem, Apache said. CSR is a major Bluetooth chip vendor with a 25 per cent global market share as of the end of the first half of the year, according to a CSR presentation.

CSR holds more than 80 per cent of the market in Taiwan. The majority of its chips are used in handsets, with the rest going into mice, keyboards, notebook motherboards and headsets. According to Apache, Taiwan shipped an average 300,000 Bluetooth-enabled products a month in the first quarter. Monthly shipments rose to 500,000 units in the second quarter and to about 550,000 in the third quarter. In October, shipments surged to close to 900,000, and in November, shipments are expected to exceed a million units.

According to Benson Chang, vice president of sales and marketing at Apache, global demand for Bluetooth-enabled devices will reach 65 million to 70 million units this year, up from 30 million last year. Demand is estimated to climb to 130 million units next year, of which 16 million to 17 million will be shipped in devices manufactured by Taiwanese companies, he added.