Global chip crisis is causing a 60-week delay in new router orders

[Joe White]

WTF?! It looks like broadband suppliers are yet another potential victim of the global chip shortage. Choked supply chains mean that orders for new routers could take as long as 60 weeks, which is more than double the length of previous waits.

With millions depending on a stable Internet connection in order to work from home, a router shortage couldn’t come at a worse time. Bloomberg shares details provided by people familiar with the situation, who claim that carriers are being quoted wait times as long as 60 weeks for new router orders – double the length of previous wait-times.

It’s worth noting that carriers have not run out of routers yet. However, according to Karsten Gewecke, head of European regional business for Zyxel Communications (a Taiwan-based router-maker), companies “have been very close several times.” He added: “It could still happen.”

The pandemic and work-from-home movement have put pressure on ISPs in more ways than one. Broadband coverage remains an issue for many, with countless Americans unable to access acceptable (or even usable) speeds in their homes. A router shortage, however, could grind new Internet orders to a halt.

Even routers which have already been manufactured aren’t safe. Last week, a batch of Zyxel routers were on and behind the Evergreen ship that blocked the Suez Canal, adding a further dose of disruption into the mix.

Elsewhere, the chip shortage is affecting everyone from Qualcomm to Apple, with analysis suggesting that we’ll see constrained supply chains into 2022 or even 2023. For now, if you have an old router lying around, don’t throw it out.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/89261-global-chip-crisis-causing-60-week-delay-new.html

 

[NicktheWVAHick]

Let’s face it. Anything that uses an IC (and that basically means “everything”) is back-ordered now. This is obvious to anyone who has tried to buy anything with new electronics inside. I fear it will get much worse before it gets any better.

 

[pcnthuziast]

No guarantee this shortage can be mitigated at all, like ever.

 

[veLa]

Let’s face it. Anything that uses an IC (and that basically means “everything”) is back-ordered now. This is obvious to anyone who has tried to buy anything with new electronics inside. I fear it will get much worse before it gets any better.

And to dumb it down even further, that means anything with a "computer chip" is back ordered with no relief in sight.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

No guarantee this shortage can be mitigated at all, like ever.

You're right, we'll NEVER have computer chips again, it'll be like 1980 where only the rich can afford computers. Personally I cant wait for carburetors to come back.

 

[gamerk2]

Maybe things like routers shouldn't be using ICs that use state-of-the-art process nodes? Just saying, there's a lot of excess capacity on the "old" 45nm, 90nm, and of course, everyone's favorite 300nm nodes.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Maybe things like routers shouldn't be using ICs that use state-of-the-art process nodes? Just saying, there's a lot of excess capacity on the "old" 45nm, 90nm, and of course, everyone's favorite 300nm nodes.

But then theyll use two more watts, think of jonny polar bear!

 

[Mr Majestyk]

We have been routed well and truly.

Luckily I have two good routers and given how expensive the latest routers are I'm even more glad I don't need a new one.

 

[p51d007]

All because China released a man made virus.

 

[scavengerspc]

All because China released a man made virus.

But what I don't get is that it's been over a year now and that whole time home electronics sales were going higher and higher. I could see a brief shortage but 14 months later? To me, the answer comes down to high demand divided by shortages = keep demand high, keep prices high.

 

[Watzupken]

No guarantee this shortage can be mitigated at all, like ever.

I feel the shortage is due to the following reasons,
1. OEMs/ manufacturers soaking up supplies to replenish their exhausted inventory due to the work from home demand spike last year, and,
2. people/companies buying more in anticipation of further shortage
Point 2 could be the reason for the persistent shortage because as OEM/ manufacturers tries to maintain their inventory at a healthy level, people buying excessively will inevitably make it harder. But with prices going up, I think demand will eventually taper off.

 

[0dium]

No guarantee this shortage can be mitigated at all, like ever.

Well if there is demand, there will be supply eventually

 

[Watzupken]

Maybe things like routers shouldn't be using ICs that use state-of-the-art process nodes? Just saying, there's a lot of excess capacity on the "old" 45nm, 90nm, and of course, everyone's favorite 300nm nodes.

I don't think they use state of the art process nodes. At the high end, I don't think the quad core processor running at 1.8Ghz is nowhere near as fast as a mid range ARM SOC that is a few years old. But a router uses quite a lot of components, so if there is any shortage in any parts, there will be a knock on effect. Its similar to monitor shortages that we read recently, and that is because of a shortage of 1 part.

 

[IzzyBAIDJI]

Unless someone puts an end to this mining sh1t things will continue to get worse

 

[Watzupken]

Unless someone puts an end to this mining sh1t things will continue to get worse

I am no fan of crypto mining, but objectively, we can't blame everything on miners. Supply pretty much came to a standstill due to the pandemic lockdowns last year. Couple of frantic buying of hardware for working from home by individuals as well as corporates, its a double whammy. So now most manufacturers are still trying to stock up their inventories. Crypto mining just makes this a triple whammy as demand remains strong despite price increases.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

I do see lots of price increases on GPUs, DDR4 memory and SSDs but one category of electronics that seems to be reasonably priced are laptops. Not the bleeding edge laptops but older and fairly recent or new ones.

 

[Nanochip]

With the impending chip crunch almost upon us, will it ever be a good time to buy Rocket Lake?

 

[Mr Majestyk]

With the impending chip crunch almost upon us, will it ever be a good time to buy Rocket Lake?

Ah no, AMD 5600X and 5800X are not too hard to obtain now and soon we'll have the APU's for desktop too. Wait for Alder Lake if you want Intel, I think it will be very competitive. Also most likely getting Zen3+ later this year too.

 

[Watzupken]

With the impending chip crunch almost upon us, will it ever be a good time to buy Rocket Lake?

Depends on how urgently you need a PC.

 

[Avro Arrow]

"the Evergreen ship that blocked the Suez Canal"
You mean the SS Klausterfokken?

Hmmm, maybe I should consider scalping the high-speed NetGear router that I no longer use.