- The CPU market is now facing a worse situation than the RAM industry.
- Prices for CPUs are about to become much worse.
- If Intel 18A yields improve, the situation could become marginally better.
Despite earlier concerns that certain measures, like increasing supply too quickly, might worsen the situation, the industry was actively adapting and showing resistance. However, the CPU shortage is now having a greater impact on the industry than the memory crisis, and its effects are beginning to be felt throughout the whole PC industry.
Interestingly, products are still available in retail stores, which shows the efforts to maintain stability for consumers. However, the consumer market will experience huge volatility and fluctuations because of this.
Why it matters: Consumers have already been through a lot with the RAM shortages, and with CPUs now next in line, things continue to worsen for PC gaming.
The situation is more serious than it appears, and the common denominator with memory is identical, even though the figures differ. In fact, what we’re about to explain is worse than what has been going on for months.
OEMs are no longer able to obtain CPUs, despite the fact that they are the first to have access to them, ahead of wholesalers and retailers. This situation jeopardizes the global availability of laptops and IPCs, and according to leaks, part of the solution will depend on Intel’s ability to enhance the yields of its Intel 18A process.
Intel is in the process of expanding its node and plans to discontinue prior lines, such as Intel 3 and Intel 7. It has already altered its OEM price to reflect rising expenses and a supply-demand imbalance.
According to reports from the end of March, Intel has begun boosting the price of its CPUs for OEM clients due to supply bottlenecks and rising raw material costs. It was also stated that both Intel and AMD had warned their consumers about additional price rises planned in March and April.
In other words, it’s no longer just an issue of a specific CPU costing more, but equipment manufacturers are acquiring full systems at a higher price from the start.
In the PC market, manufacturers such as HP and Dell are receiving fewer CPUs than they require, with typical price increases ranging from 10% to 15% or more, and delivery delays increasing from one or two weeks to an average of eight to twelve weeks, with some cases extending to six months.
The most concerning element of the matter is that some industry insiders admit that paying more does not guarantee getting more CPUs. So right now, the CPU market is worse than RAM.
The source of this tension is also clear. The scarcity began in the second half of last year, driven mostly by substantially higher-than-expected demand for server CPUs, particularly from new AI-focused data centers.
The market was already under pressure for GPUs, memory, and storage, and now that pressure has spread to processors as well. As long as this situation continues, the PC and laptop markets will continue to fight for a limited supply at a time when demand is high and delivery times are getting longer.
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[Editor-in-Chief]
Sajjad Hussain is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Tech4Gamers.com. Apart from the Tech and Gaming scene, Sajjad is a Seasonal banker who has delivered multi-million dollar projects as an IT Project Manager and works as a freelancer to provide professional services to corporate giants and emerging startups in the IT space.
Majored in Computer Science
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Sajjad is a passionate and knowledgeable individual with many skills and experience in the tech industry and the gaming community. He is committed to providing honest, in-depth product reviews and analysis and building and maintaining a strong gaming community.
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