Amazon has said it will spend several billion dollars to manage labour shortages and supply chain issues in the run-up to Christmas, reports BBC.

The online retail giant said it was doing "whatever it takes to minimise the impact" on customers and sellers.

Meanwhile, Apple said a shortage of semiconductor chips had cost it $6bn (£4.35bn) in lost sales.

The tech giant's boss, Tim Cook, admitted its problems would persist over the festive period.

While the technology giant said fourth-quarter sales rose 29% to $83.4bn, they fell short of expectations. Profit rose to $20.5bn from $12.6bn.

Cook said it had experienced "larger-than-expected supply constraints" in the three months to 25 September and the chip shortage was now affecting "most of our products".

Amazon said it would have to spend a significant amount of money to manage its own shortages.