Intel Says PC Chip Shortage Is Far From Over; Expects Normalcy By 2024

If you thought PC chip shortage days are getting over soon, Intel might have some bad news for you. As per Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, the shortage is far from over and things won’t be normal until 2024.

The shortage has been sweeping headlines for quite some time now, but the recent outlook has been a tad bit positive. GPU supplies have surged and prices have been on a downward spiral for the past few weeks. This means there is some hope left. However, Gelsinger thinks something has happened that alters the whole scenario.

Why More Delay?

During an interview with CNBC, he explained that chip shortage has started hampering the supply of key manufacturing tools, instead of just causing a shortage of materials required to create the chips. The lack of these tools makes it even more difficult to create new chips.

“That’s part of the reason that we believe the overall semiconductor shortage will now drift into 2024, from our earlier estimates in 2023, just because the shortages have now hit equipment and some of those factory ramps will be more challenged,” Gelsinger said.

The new 2024 date is later than several industry stalwarts had predicted, including AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su and Gelsinger himself. Before speaking to CNBC, Intel’s top man believed things would be back on track until 2023, with things gradually improving with each quarter until then. That point of view seems to have changed with time.

Time To Lower Expectations

With the pandemic creating major supply chain issues, Intel has worked on diversifying the location of its manufacturing plants by setting up factories in Europe and the US.

“We’ve really invested in those equipment relationships, but that will be tempering the build-out of capacity for us and everybody else, but we believe we’re positioned better than the rest of the industry,” Gelsinger said.

With the shortage expected to continue for the next 18 months, it might be a good idea to lower your expectations of when chip prices will come down and availability might get better in the coming days. While there is some improvement, the latest news from Intel could mean there’s still a lot of waiting to be done.