July 1 Reuters A handful of companies including chipmakers Micron and AMD are signalling an easing in the twoyear long global shortage of semiconductor chips as rising inflation and cooling economies squeeze consumer and corporate spending.

Micron Technology Inc, a maker of memory chips, forecast on Thursday much worsethanexpected revenue for the current quarter and said the market had weakened considerably in a very short period of time.

Chip stocks fell on Friday including those of Taiwan39;s TSMC and MediaTek, Dutch chipgear maker ASML, FrancoItalian firm STMicroelectronics , and Germany39;s Infineon.

Through the pandemic, chipmakers were overwhelmed trying to meet big orders from makers of smartphones and personal computers PCs that saw a surge in demand from people working from home. The resulting chip shortage led companies, including automakers, to slash production, delay shipments and pay steep premiums for key chips.

Recent COVID19 lockdowns in China had global executives issuing grave warnings about supply chokepoints until recently.

On the flipside, China39;s curbs slammed consumer demand and boosted inflation in the world39;s secondlargest economy, resulting in steep falls in sales of smartphones and PCs.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc flagged last month a slowdown in PC sales this year after two years of strong demand. 

Micron said China39;s recent lockdowns caused a 30 drop in its China revenue in the current quarter.

Industrywide shipments of…