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Increasing chip costs could lead to more expensive phones and PCs in 2022

By Cookie Monster - on 7 Sep 2021, 12:34am

Increasing chip costs could lead to more expensive phones and PCs in 2022

Image source: 9to5Mac

Be prepared to pay higher prices for your smartphone, tablet or PC next year. 

A report by Nikkei Asia claims that chipmakers are marking up their production costs due to the ongoing global component shortage. TSMC, the world's biggest chipmaker, is reportedly preparing its steepest price hike in 10 years. Even before this price hike, TSMC's prices are already 20% higher than its rivals in the industry.

The price hike is also a strategy by TSMC to minimise double booking by its clients, where they order more chips than they actually require in hope of securing production line space. The double booking makes it difficult for TSMC to gauge the "real demand" of chips.

Nikkei Asia says the increasing chip costs will have a "noticeable" effect on retail prices of devices such as smartphones and computers as they typically use more components. Consumer electronics brand will be forced to introduce higher-end models in 2022 to offset the price hikes instead of focusing on lower-end and midrange models.

If you're worried that Apple is increasing the prices for the upcoming iPhone 13, TrendForce believes it will not be the case. However, Apple has confirmed that supply constraints are likely to hit the iPhone and iPad in Q4.

Source: Nikkei Asia via 9to5Mac

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