Laptop suppliers issue warning: supply bottlenecks affect the release of new products

by ·

Over the past year or so, all aspects of the PC industry have encountered supply-side issues, leading to out-of-stocks and price hikes. Compared with desktop computers, laptops are considered to have a relatively small impact on the market segment, which is also closely related to the fact that manufacturers pay more attention to the priority supply to ensure the smooth shipment of products. Intel has released the 12th-generation Core notebook processors at the CES 2022 exhibition at the beginning of the year, and related products will be on sale soon, but new products exhibited by some manufacturers this year may not be available so soon.

Alienware Graphics Amplifier

“Alienware 14 Gaming Laptop” by liewcf is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

According to TomsHardware reports, recently notebook supplier Schenker (XMG) issued an alert, due to manufacturing accidents encountered in the semiconductor supply chain, the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the increasing shortage of parts and components, the increase in logistics costs, etc., the supply may become more difficult next, and there will be a risk of delays.

“At the moment, we are receiving daily updates from our partners and suppliers regarding the postponement of delivery dates. Sometimes these delays amount to several weeks,” said Tom Fichtner, the Taiwan-based Senior Product Developer at XMG. “Although we were able to present our new XMG NEO 15 (E22) with OASIS liquid cooling at the beginning of the year and are still assuming availability from mid-March, other laptops such as the new XMG FUSION 16 or the revised XMG PRO series with Intel’s 12th Gen Core CPUs are still pending. At the moment, it is neither clear when these will be available, nor at what price – because the increasing component shortage and rising logistics costs make early costing and planning difficult.”

The instability of the COVID-19 epidemic has caused many manufacturers to close production lines, affecting supply; the pressure of logistics directly affects the price of transportation; the prices of certain electronic components and various raw materials are still rising. Schenker expects hardware prices to continue climbing this year, at least for integrated high-performance systems. Schenker is not a big player in the industry. Maybe some big brands have greater control and bargaining power in the supply chain, and the situation will be better, but Schenker’s statement can see the difficulties the industry may face next.

Tags: