Despite the good news about graphics card prices, the PC market is still facing significant headwinds. The fallout from the pandemic, Chinese factory shutdowns and high oil prices mean that the cost of a PC remains higher than it should be, and if the words of Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, turn out to be true, some PC parts may soon cost even more than they do now.
Mehrotra was interviewed by Fox Business (via wccftech) stating that “there are parts of the chip shortage that will continue to improve in calendar year 2022 and parts of that will continue into 2023 as well. Of course, Micron continues to make the necessary investments to meet the growing demand brought to us by our customers.”
Micron is best known for its memory products, including DRAM and NAND flash memory, which are obviously key components in all PCs. If things like Covid-related shutdowns continue from time to time, supply is indeed likely to be disrupted for the foreseeable future. The price of DDR5 memory is falling but still high compared to DDR4. Given that Micron is one of the few DRAM manufacturers, this doesn’t bode well for prices going forward.
Micron is poised to invest more than $150 billion over the next decade, furthering its commitment to manufacturing research and development. However, this is all long term and won’t have much of an effect in 2022. One thing it won’t do, at least in the short term, is produce Ballistix memory. Unfortunately, Micron killed off its longstanding Ballistix brand of memory, opting instead to focus on supplying other RAM manufacturers.
Micron also released a statement regarding its supply of neon gas, which is a key ingredient in semiconductor manufacturing. About 50% of neon comes from Ukraine, which means that global neon production has been cut in half due to the Russian invasion. Micron says its production should not be affected due to diversified supply and long-term agreements.
All of this goes to show that semiconductor supply shortages are not yet in the rearview mirror and that prices for many PC components are likely to remain high or even rise further due to worries of runaway inflation, the ongoing war and work from home. strong demand.
