If you’re hoping to pick up a new console or video card to play some fancy new video games, Intel warns that you shouldn’t get your hopes up.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger spoke with Nikkei Asia in an interview recently. He explained that Covid disrupted the supply chains, “causing it to go negative. Demand exploded to 20% year-over-year and disrupted supply chains created a very large gap…and that exploding demand has persisted.”
“It just takes time to build this capacity to respond to the spike,” he continued. Gelsinger said that there are planned expansions that should help with the shortage. In addition to the already announced plans at sites in Arizona and New Mexico, Gelsinger intends to announce the next Intel expansions at an additional U.S. site, as well as Europe, “in the near future.”
As people continue to invest in new hardware for the new generation of gaming, people are being left out. This latest news means that anyone hoping to invest in new hardware will have a rough time. That includes both in terms of availability, as well as financially.
Despite the threat of new variants, there is hope. Malaysia’s Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry, Mohamed Azmin Ali, assured the Intel CEO that “there will be no longer lockdowns, only targeted ones” about how the country handles Covid outbreaks moving forward.
While Intel is warning of continued issues, others previously this year were more optimistic.
PC Gamer reported in September that the IDC Report expects “normalisation and balance by the middle of 2022, with potential for overcapacity in 2023 as larger scale capacity expansions begin to come online towards the end of 2022.” Of course, this was before the Omicron variant had its outbreak. It’s unknown how that will alter supply issues. Ali’s statements regarding Malaysian lockdowns indicates that the country plans to operate through future potential outbreaks.
