The PC supply chain is being pummeled from every angle as the AI infrastructure build out, limited production capacity, the Chinese export controls on rare earths, and the U.S.-Iran War combine to create the perfect storm of increasing costs. According to Nikkei Asia, procurement managers from different PC manufacturers have been hit with multiple price hike notices and supply constraints from various suppliers across the globe.
“We are seeing supply chain challenges happening in multiple places,” Natarajan Ramachandran, a director in chipmaker Broadcom, told Nikkei. "One place that is very unexpected for us is the printed circuit board. PCB lead times used to be six weeks but now they have become six months.” Lite-On Technology president Anson Chiu also said, "Except for the firm demand for AI infrastructure ... the outlook for the rest of this year is worse than we previously estimated. The pressure on our clients is really big. We're hearing that prices are rising across all types of packaging, even for basic plastics, which is something we haven't seen in years. That means the cost of boxes and containers is also going up.”
