TECH REPORT
WE HOPE IT’S CHIPS
Just why are computer parts so hard to get hold of right now?
Image credit: TSM C
Tried buying a GPU lately? Chances are that you’ve been disappointed, faced either with dwindling stock levels or enormous prices on that well-known online auction site. And it’s not just PC gamers who are feeling the pinch – stocks of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles are at rock bottom, and even car makers and tumble dryer manufacturers are having trouble getting hold of the right amount of silicon to create their products.
There are a few hypotheses about why this has happened, from large ships stuck in small canals, to Brexit making it generally harder (and more expensive) for the UK to import electronics, to Chinese chip manufacturers increasing their stockpiles of in-demand chips, decreasing their availability on the open market. Then there’s the small matter of COVID-19.
It was back in April this year that the Guardian, 200-year-old sage of the technology world, announced the shortage was at ‘crisis point’, while in May CNN stated it was going from ‘bad to worse’ – quoting Ford in the process, which is having to reduce its car output by 10% because of the lack of microchips, and parked 10,000 unfinished vehicles at the Kentucky Raceway, waiting for the chips to arrive to finish them off. The value of some used cars have risen as much as 10% thanks to the shortage, and anyone who’s tried to sell an outdated GPU already knows it’s possible to sell used for the price of new.