It appears that some of the current chip shortages might be artificially induced by one or multiple companies in the chip supply chain, according to an article by TIME Magazine. The article is taking a look at the role TSMC is playing in the global chip production industry and TIME has interviewed TSMC chairman Mark Liu among others in the industry.
Mark Liu is quoted as saying "But I told them, "You are my customer’s customer’s customer. How could I [prioritize others] and not give you chips?"" when asked about the complaints by car makers, since they were among the first to suggest TSMC was one of the issues. Due to the various allegations against TSMC, Liu had a team collect data points to try and figure out what was going on and to see which customers were truly running low on stock and which customers that might be stockpiling for a rainy day.