By now, it's likely that many gamers, both PC and console, are becoming impatient with having to wait for stocks to become available again. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X still experiencing shortages which could go on until the middle of next year, and supplies of Nvidia and AMD graphics cards going through a similar phase, there is arguably a universal feeling of frustration as gamers and hardware enthusiasts continue to wait. Sadly, it looks as though things may get worse before they get better.
TSMC, a manufacturer of hardware for such influential companies as Apple, Qualcomm, AMD and Nvidia, recently reported that the global shortage of semiconductors could stretch well into 2022, with the CEO adding that the company hoped to be able to "see the supply chain tightness release a little bit" come 2023. This means that customers will still struggle to get hold of new hardware while manufacturers wait for resources to come available again before they can start producing products.
Such a delay goes hand-in-hand with what companies such as Nvidia have been saying, which saw supplies of its latest RTX 3000 series remaining at an all-time low almost as soon as they were launched back in September 2020. The situation became so dire that speculations have recently risen about Nvidia possibly re-launching its four-year-old GTX 1080 Ti series to ease the burden. While some of the blame for the GPU shortages can be attested to cryptominers who have been bulk buying stock, the shortage of semiconductors inevitably does not help things, either.
This delay impacts a huge range of industries and ultimately has a knock-on effect for the general public as well. It's not just gaming that will continue to feel the recession. TSMC are also known to work with car manufacturers, who have had to scale back their own productions.
As the world waits for supplies to become available again, and for the market to even itself out, gamers and general technology consumers can do very little but hope there is some good news around the corner. However, with the chip shortage being felt across the globe, stock issues for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as AMD and Nvidia graphics cards and other hardware will continue to be a thorn in many people's sides. With the deficit expecting to go on well into 2022, with possibly a return to some semblance of normalcy in 2023, now is arguably not a good time to be wanting a new PC or console.