Back in December 2021, I wrote about the Global Semi-Conductor chip shortage which was having an enormous impact on supply chains and the availability of many products. At the time estimates on when the situation would improve ranged from mid-2022 to 2023. I thought that now would be an opportune time to update you on the situation.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine which flared up earlier in 2022 and is still ongoing, has added extra factors to the situation, especially by increasing fuel and power costs. So most of the factors causing the shortages and supply chain queues are still in place.
There is hope, however, as some recent developments have helped alleviate the shortage. Graphics card and CPU stock, which has been a fairly accurate representation of the shortage status, has slowly recovered. One of the major reasons is the decline of Ethereum/Bitcoin mining, as well as cryptocurrency in general with the collapse in cryptocurrency values.
Chip fabrication plants that were started before the pandemic are starting to come online, and some of the demand from work-from-home and hybrid workforces for new tech for their jobs has largely been satisfied and is unlikely to surge again the way it did in 2020.
With new tech products rolling out every year, however, and the increasing penetration of computers into previously analogue products and services, it’s impossible to tell how far from a full recovery we actually are, or if one is even possible.
This is one economic disaster, which cannot be directly blamed on Brexit though!