There’s an ongoing global chip shortage, and there has been for a long time now. Have you noticed the rising prices of technology over the last year, or how difficult it has been to get your hands on a Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, or an Xbox? It has been a perfect storm of high demand and decreased supply — both thanks to COVID-19 — along with droughts in Taiwan which have sent the global silicon supply chain spiraling downwards. With all of that said, if you’re looking to pick up some Christmas presents (tech-related in particular), you should probably start doing so now.
The global chip shortage is expected to be going long into 2022, and companies like @Sonos have even had to increase their prices partially as a result.
Might be worth attempting to get Christmas presents sooner rather than later if you’re looking to pick up tech for someone 👀
— Adam Conway (@AdamConwayIE) September 12, 2021
The entire world is going to be looking to pick up Christmas presents over the next few months, and supply is only getting worse currently. Analyst firm IDC recently released a report stating that we could see “normalisation and balance by the middle of 2022, with a potential for overcapacity in 2023 as larger scale capacity expansions begin to come online towards the end of 2022.”
If professional analyst firms aren’t enough to convince you that there’s a problem, even smartphone companies have changed their plans over the past year. As an example, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has been extensively delayed, with the CFO of U.S. carrier T-Mobile even calling out the company for not effectively handling the situation. The Galaxy S21 FE was rumored to launch back in August, and reports coming out of South Korea alleged that Samsung had to swap out the chipset last minute in order to meet the expected demand.
All of this is to say that if you’re looking to pick up a games console, a smartphone, or computer hardware, I would personally start looking now rather than later. You’re going to be competing with — literally — the entire world to get any kind of technology this Christmas.
Feature image: Google Pixel 5
