Compal: shortages Intel 14nm processors continue until mid-2019

The director of the Taiwanese manufacturer Compal Electronics, which makes laptops for the major computer companies, reckons that at least until mid-2019 there will be shortages of Intel’s 14nm processors.

According to him, Intel has no clarity given when the deficits are over. According to DigiTimes the Compal-CEO states that the shortages have a negative influence on the deliveries of laptops in the lucrative end-of-year period. Compal makes, among other things, laptops for Acer, Apple, Dell, HP and Lenovo.

Intel announced at the beginning of this month to add extra capacity in Vietnam for the supply of 14nm processors. In recent weeks rumors have appeared about other measures that Intel would take. According to Tom’s Hardware, the company produces its H310C chipset again at 22nm, where it was initially at 14nm. DigiTimes claimed that Intel had outsourced production to TSMC although sources from Tom’s Hardware denied that.

The shortages are due to higher demand for chips, partly because the PC market performs better than expected and the data center market is growing rapidly. Intel also makes many chip generations at 14nm, including not only processors but also chipsets. The company is doing much longer than planned with its 14nm process because the 10nm production has been postponed due to major problems until the end of 2019.

The result of the shortages is now also visible in the prices. Hardware.info posted last week the price increases of Coffee Lake cpus in the period from the beginning of September in a row and reached an average of 23 percent. Outliers included the Core i3 8100, with an 81 percent higher price and the Core i5 8400, with a 40 percent higher price. The popular Core i7 8700K has also risen in price, albeit with a somewhat more modest 20 percent. Similar price increases can be seen in the Pricewatch.

Price development Core i5-8400