The world continues to suffer from a global shortage of memory hardware as data centres and large U.S. multinationals continue to hoover up existing supply to power generative artificial intelligence.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz—a crucial global shipping lane—has only exacerbated the shortage, as supply lines have been devastated by the ongoing war in Iran.
According to a report from Digitimes (via PC Gamer), several major motherboard manufacturers are facing a "collapse" as a result of the challenging market, including MSI, Gigabyte and ASRock.
While motherboards themselves don't rely on memory technology, consumers are far less likely to purchase new components if they can't afford the other exorbitantly expensive components they need to upgrade their PCs.
In other words, why would you buy a new motherboard if you can't afford the memory that slots into it? If you were feeling optimistic, they could buy a new motherboard now in anticipation of prices coming back down, but who knows if that will happen in a post-AI world.
The report also suggests that upgrades are becoming less and less significant for mid-to-high-end PCs, which, in combination with the high prices, has decreased consumer interest in buying new motherboards....
