Due to insufficient supply of CCL and soaring prices, motherboards and graphics cards will be underpricing pressure

Recently, there has been a local supply shortage in the supply chain. Some time ago, it was revealed that the coronavirus epidemic has become more and more serious in Southeast Asia, and the production of passive components such as capacitors, resistors, and inductors has been affected. Many manufacturers’ factories have reduced or even stopped production, resulting in a sharp drop in shipments. The impact of the shortage of these components may be greater than the shortage of chips. This situation is difficult to improve in 2021, and the situation will gradually improve next year.

According to TomsHardware, the supply of copper and copper-clad laminates (CCL) used to manufacture printed circuit boards (PCBs) is insufficient, and manufacturers are therefore under pressure from rising costs. The question now is how much cost will the manufacturer pass on to the consumer. According to estimates, this impact will be more obvious on low-end devices, and high-end devices will have a relatively small impact due to their relatively high prices.

The huge demand for electronic products in the market is no longer news. The semiconductor industry has been unable to provide enough production capacity for some time. This is also the reason for the price increase of chip-related products. However, in addition to the chip itself, electronic products require PCBs made of glass fiber and copper foil. Since December 2020, the price of copper has continued to rise, and the current increase has reached 35%, resulting in an increase in the cost of CCL used to manufacture PCBs, which will eventually be reflected in the product. The motherboard and graphics card on the computer will bear greater pricing pressure due to the use of large PCBs with more layers.