The global chip shortage is NOT ending soon, so maybe you should stop hoping for graphics card or console prices to go down for now.
This claim comes straight from Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who mentioned it during their latest earnings report, writes PCWorld. Despite his company posting a record-high $20.5 billion revenue for Q4 2021, Gelsinger stated that so-called "ecosystem constraints" (aka the shortage) are going to persist until 2023.
An Intel sign is displayed in front of the Intel company headquarters July 15, 2008 in Santa Clara, California. Intel has reported a 25 percent increase in its second quarter earnings with net income of $1.6 billion or 28 cents per share compared to $1.28 billion, or 22 cents per share one year ago.
According to the Intel CEO, the shortage was felt "acutely" in the notebook market, and the company's sales numbers reflected that. Their overall notebook revenue suffered a 16 percent decline, though the shortage didn't seem to affect the desktop market much with a 19 percent growth.
But despite the global chip shortage still not easing up, Gelsinger was confident that Intel will be "well-positioned" to work through the market within the next few years. This is mainly due to their emphasis on building their own chips using their own fabs.
This is not the same situation with other Big Tech companies like AMD or NVIDIA, however, who are known to outsource their chipmaking to the likes of TSMC.
In an attempt to deal with the shortage, the US government actually conducted a study last year. According to GadgetsNDTV, the aforementioned study's results are expected to be released by the Commerce Department soon. The study is also part of efforts to push for a chipmaking funding boost from the United States Congress.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo recently mentioned that if the chip shortage isn't solved, it presents a "long-term threat" to the US' economic and national security."
Chipmakers like Intel are also doing their absolute best to boost their domestic production rates. This is evidenced by their $100 billion investment into an Ohio "megafab" billed to be the largest semiconductor factory in the world.
Why Will The Global Chip Shortage Continue?
Last year, much of the shortage was driven by the drought that plagued Taiwan. For the unaware, manufacturing computer chips and other semiconductors requires an ample supply of water, and Taiwan is where TSMC's major fabs are located (TSMC being the world's largest chipmaker).
This photo taken on March 25, 2021 shows a factory of Taiwanese semiconductors manufacturer TSMC at Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung.
But why is it still ongoing? The answer is quite simple, according to WIRED: putting up new factories takes a long time. It is not enough that the likes of Intel and TSMC are announcing new factories left and right. Actually getting those factories up, running, and making chips will take several years.
This then links back to problems between supply and demand, which according to Arm CEO Simon Segars is still experiencing an "extreme gap". As a result, prices keep prices way up with no clear indication of when they'll drop to normal levels.
If you're a tech enthusiast at this day and age, it must feel like a gut punch hearing or reading about this news. But there's really nothing that can be done about it, instead wait things out until they settle down.
Related Article: Sony Is Allegedly Planning To Build A New Chip Factory In Japan With TSMC
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
