Just a few days ago, leading global PC makers HP and Dell announced that the ongoing global chip crisis will affect their ability to maintain a steady supply of laptops in the coming quarters. Intel, the supplier of silicon for the aforementioned companies – and almost every other PC brand on the planet – has now revealed that it expects the ongoing semiconductor shortage to last at least a couple of years before the supply chain woes are resolved.
Talking about the issue (via Reuters), Intel chief Pat Gelsinger mentioned that the explosive growth in the demand for PC hardware as more people shifted towards remote work and home-based learning during the pandemic put severe stress on the chip supply. A previous report from Bloomberg also predicts that the ongoing crisis is only getting worse, affecting everything from the consumer electronics segment to the automobile industry in a major fashion.
“We have been working diligently with our partners to address constraints and increase output to meet demand, and we are acting to help ensure capacity to meet the world’s needs for this new era. But, while the industry has taken steps to address near-term constraints, it could still take a couple of years for the ecosystem to address shortages of foundry capacity, substrates, and components,” Gelsinger was quoted as saying by the EconomicTimes.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger (CreditL Intel)
Earlier this year, Intel set aside $20 billion towards building two new chip factories in Arizona, with plans to expand in more regions – both US and Europe. Aside from making its own chips, Intel will open its latest venture to doing business with other companies as well in its bid to become a force in the global foundry industry. Interestingly, Intel aims to manufacture chips based on its own x86 design as well as the ARM architecture – potentially winning back Apple as a client.
Apple, which is no longer among Intel’s biggest clients after moving to its own silicon, is also facing the heat from the ongoing crisis. As per multiple reports in the past few weeks, Apple is staring at a delay in the mass production of its upcoming MacBook Pro refresh owing to the ongoing chip shortage. While the launch date is reportedly not going to get pushed back, general availability will be affected in the long run.