Thierry Breton is formal.
The end of the shortages which affect semiconductors and many other economic sectors will not come before "several quarters", declared Sunday the European Commissioner for the Internal Market in the program "Political questions" for France info, France Inter and Le Monde.
"It will not last, but it will not be erased in three months either," said Thierry Breton.
"I think the peak is rather behind us, but to return to normal it will take several more quarters," he added, referring to a possible normalization of demand next summer.
Because since the start of the year, faced with the rebound in demand and a supply disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, certain sectors have been particularly affected, such as semiconductors, produced mainly in Asia and essential in the entire electronics industry.
Production of 7.7 million vehicles prevented
The automotive sector, where semiconductors such as microchips are ubiquitous, is probably the most affected.
Delayed delivery, production line at a standstill, in the third quarter, the automobile factories chained the days of closures.
On the consumer side, the wait for a new car has sometimes gone from several weeks to several months.
Read alsoShortage of electronic components: how the automotive sector has been overtaken by high-tech
Globally, across the industry, shortages could prevent the production of 7.7 million vehicles worldwide in 2021, according to AlixPartners, for a shortfall of 180 billion euros.
Video games, another victim of shortages
On another note, manufacturers of video game consoles are also struggling to keep up with demand.
Microsoft and Sony, on the front line, are struggling to deliver their new video game consoles to players, which were released almost a year ago.
Nintendo, for its part, had to revise its sales targets downwards for the new version of its Switch.
Asked by journalists on the effect of the shortages on Christmas, the European Commissioner wanted to be reassuring, declaring that although "there will undoubtedly be a little delay", we are not "in front of an absolutely dramatic shortage ".