Supply Squeeze Hits CPUs
"The CPU shortage is getting more serious day by day, no less than the memory chip situation." That warning comes from an executive at a gaming PC company cited by Nikkei Asia, and it sets the tone for a difficult spring for builders. Despite fresh desktop launches and a crowded market on paper, actual availability looks set to tighten further in the coming weeks.
Nikkei Asia reports a supply crunch across both PC and server processors, with an "average price hike of between 10% to 15%" already filtering through the channel. Some individual models are climbing higher. For gaming rigs, that means the parts you were eyeing in February could cost more — or be harder to find — by late March and into April.
Prices Up, Wait Times Stretch
The outlet says Intel and AMD have notified customers of pending price increases on "all series of CPUs," starting in March for Intel and April for AMD. Lead times have lengthened dramatically too, moving from a typical one to two weeks to eight to 12 weeks, with extreme cases stretching to six months. That’s far beyond the comfort zone for most boutique builders and system integrators.
One gaming PC executive told Nikkei Asia that the April–June quarter will be worse than the start of the year. "Intel and AMD have prioritized capacity for server CPUs, and the supply for PCs has become less ... what PC players can get in Q2 is much less than the volume we got in Q1," the exec said. The same source added a blunt caveat: "What we worry about is that even if we pay more we still cannot get more."
Asus systems boss Jose Liao echoed the theme, pointing to a sharper pinch on mid-range x86 chips. He said Intel is tilting production toward high-end parts, and that "the supply gap is indeed widening and is expected to continue." For anyone planning a mid-budget build, that’s exactly the tier most often targeted for value.