CPU and GPU prices are expected to rise in 2022

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In the past year or so, the supply shortage encountered by the semiconductor industry has seriously affected consumers’ purchase of computer electronic products. Although there are companies or heavyweights in the industry who come out from time to time to appease and predict when the supply and prices will be normal, in fact, no one can confirm when the shortage problem in the supply chain will be really solved.

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According to DigiTimes, the prices of CPUs, GPUs, and ASICs are expected to rise in 2022, possibly by 10% to 20%, which is also a comprehensive reflection of rising foundry costs, while supply shortages in the semiconductor industry will continue. It is understood that CPUs using 7nm and below processes are most likely to increase in price, which also brings increasing pressure to downstream customers. AMD is likely to be the most affected company. After all, CPUs from Zen 2 to Zen 4 rely on TSMC related process nodes. TSMC has raised its prices for process nodes and will force its partners to raise prices as well.

The bad news also extends to Nvidia, where future GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs are said to be built using TSMC’s 5nm process, rather than ordering from Samsung like the GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs. It is rumored that Nvidia has made prepayments to TSMC in order to ensure sufficient production capacity for the mass production of next-generation GPUs. This means that Nvidia’s new generation of graphics cards may be sold at a premium, and if the supply shortage persists, it will push up prices further, affecting an entire generation of products.

Intel may be the least affected of the three companies. After all, it has its own fab and supply chain, and its control is more flexible. However, under the pressure of rising overall costs in the industry, Intel will still increase prices, not to mention that more chips will be outsourced to TSMC in the future, and these additional costs will be borne by consumers.

2022 could be a bad year for the PC industry as a whole, with demand expected to slow but prices for key components such as CPUs and GPUs continuing to rise. The Covid-19 pandemic will also increase transportation costs, and coupled with inflationary pressures, these headwinds are likely to all add up in the end.

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