Intel changed its prediction about the scarcity of chips, which was previously predicted until 2023 to now be until 2024.
This was stated by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in an interview with CNBC on Friday (29/4/2022). The reason is, the scarcity has reached the stage of factory equipment.
"We believe the overall semiconductor shortage will extend to 2024, from our previous estimate of 2023, the reason being that scarcity has now reached the equipment stage and upgrading (production) in factories will now be even more difficult," Gelsinger said.
Even so, this scarcity is arguably not the case for all industries. Indeed, there are industries that have been greatly impacted by this scarcity. But for Intel, for example, chip production is fairly fine.
"For the first time in years, Intel's manufacturing and supply of our substrates is almost meeting consumer demand," Gelsinger said in a Q1 2022 earnings call, as quoted by The Verge, Tuesday (3/5/2022).
So what Gelsinger means by the scarcity that will occur until 2024, more or less refers to the industry's ability to meet the demand for new products that are being produced, not just existing products.
"We expect the industry to continue to face obstacles at least until 2024, especially in the sector of chip production capacity and available equipment," he added.
As previously reported by Digitimes, suppliers of chip-making equipment are now experiencing delays in orders of up to 18 months, up from six months in 2021.
In other words, CPUs, GPUs, and game consoles are some of the most popular components that are experiencing shortages -- although they seem to be in good supply now. While in other industries, the scarcity still occurs.
Gelsinger says the shortage is happening in the network chip industry, and ethernet is a component currently hampering shipments of new PCs.