Some manufacturers of portable electronic goods say they may be unable to meet demand for their goods.

Worldwide demand for chips has soared, from 160 million in the fourth quarter of last year to 240 million in the latest period.

Goods such as personal organisers may be affected

Hand-held electronic items rely on flash memory chips. They are tiny parts which memorise data when the power to the equipment is switched off.

The market for chips worldwide was worth $2.49bn last year and is expected to reach $3.24bn this year. It is predicted to hit $4bn next year, according to IC Insights, a semiconductor market research group.

A shortage of memory chips for bigger items such as computers in recent months has been fuelling fears that prices for these items will go up.

Prices of those chips quadrupled from July to September.

It would come as a shock for consumers, who are used to seeing prices for computers fall.

French mobile phone maker Alcatel is increasing production of its handsets but says it could have sold even more had it had enough flash memory chips.

Intel, the world's biggest maker of flash memory chips, admitted it was not in a very good position to take on new orders.

It said that in 1997 and last year, demand was flat.