What you need to know
- The current GPU shortage could extend throughout the rest of this year, according to NVIDIA.
- Intel and TSMC have warned that the shortage could extend through 2022.
- The global chip shortage affects the availability of graphics cards and several industries.
The current GPU shortage could continue throughout this year and beyond, according to NVIDIA, TSMC, and Intel. NVIDIA CFO Colette Kress said that the company expects "demand to continue to exceed supply for much of this year," in an investors call this week. TSMC (via Bloomberg) and Intel (via The Verge) have warned that the shortage could last even longer through 2022.
NVIDIA initially said that supplies would "likely remain lean" through Q1 of its fiscal year, which ends at the end of April. It seems that the supply for required components hasn't changed, as explained by NVIDIA's Kress:
Overall demand remains very strong and continues to exceed supply while our channel inventories remain quite lean. We expect demand to continue to exceed supply for much of this year. We believe we will have sufficient supply to support sequential growth beyond Q1.
The current global semiconductor shortage affects a wide swath of tech companies and components, including NVIDIA's RTX 30-series GPUs. Of course, NVIDIA isn't the only GPU manufacturer affected. All of the best graphics cards sell out practically instantly on launch and any subsequent restocking. The current shortage also limits the stock of the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5.
The U.S. government has taken several steps to address the chip shortage as well, though the effects of those efforts won't be seen for some time. President Biden recently proposed a budget to Congress that includes $150 million to fund two new manufacturing programs, including one that targets semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.
