It’s the end of March and we’re already seeing a sharp increase in prices for new smartphones, tablets and computers due to a shortage of RAM and storage. This is all due to high demand from the artificial intelligence (AI) data center sector.
The issue of supply shortages is now hitting CPUs for consumer PCs, according to a Nikkei Asia report. The PC and browser CPU markets are experiencing a significant shortage with prices increasing by up to 15% on average.
Intel and AMD have informed customers that prices for all CPU series will be increased starting in March (Intel) and April (AMD). The waiting period has also increased from 1–2 weeks to 8–12 weeks. In more serious cases, the waiting period can be up to 6 months.
Intel and AMD are giving priority to CPUs used by browsers due to the surge in AI demand. Consumer CPUs are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. This is not helped by AMD which is already at maximum capacity as it needs TSMC factories to manufacture chips while Intel is facing low yield issues at its own chip fabrication plants.
