[News] Intel Reportedly Says CPU Supply Tightness Is Affecting All Customers; Chromebooks Hit Hard

As the memory shortage persists, CPU supply is also tightening. According to CRN, Intel Global Channel Chief Dave Guzzi said the chipmaker’s CPU constraints are likely affecting partners across the board, though he does not expect shortage-related price increases to approach the scale seen in memory chips.

While Intel has cited strong demand from hyperscalers as a key factor behind the CPU shortage, Guzzi said supply constraints are being felt across its entire customer base. As the report highlights, he stressed that the situation is not the result of prioritizing one customer while leaving others short, but rather reflects supply tightness affecting partners and customers across the board.

Echoing Guzzi’s remarks, an Intel spokesperson cited by CRN said the company remains “committed to the entry-level PC and other client segments that are critical to our channel partners,” even as it prioritizes production of high-performance CPUs to meet rising demand from AI and infrastructure workloads.

The spokesperson added that Intel is actively working to boost supply across multiple manufacturing nodes while expanding capacity across its global supply chain to improve product availability in the coming months. According to the report, the company continues to see “very strong” demand across both client and data center markets.

CPU pricing has been rising, signaling growing pressure for notebook makers. According to TrendForce, Intel has already raised prices on certain entry-level and older-generation notebook CPUs by more than 15% and is planning further increases for mainstream and mid-to-high-end platforms in 2Q26. TrendForce also notes that because CPUs already represent one of the largest cost components in a notebook’s BOM, these increases will further push up overall system costs. For a $900 notebook, if both memory and CPU prices rise, their combined share of BOM costs could climb from roughly 45% to about 58%.

Intel CPU Supply Tightness Ripples Across Market

Amid the ongoing CPU shortage, CRN reports that channel executives said lead times for Intel’s entry-level and midrange Xeon processors have stretched to as long as six months for new orders. The report also cites a distribution vendor management executive who pointed to supply issues surrounding Intel-based Chromebooks, adding that the shortages are prompting many customers to shift toward MediaTek.

Supply constraints are also being felt in China. Reuters reports that both Intel and AMD have warned Chinese customers about tightening server CPU availability, with the shortage pushing average prices for Intel’s server processors in the country up by more than 10%, though increases vary by contract.

As CRN notes, CFO David Zinsner said in January that supply constraints are expected to peak in the first quarter, which ends in March. The company expects production capacity to improve in each subsequent quarter as it ramps up spending on manufacturing tools.

Read more

• Rising Memory and CPU Prices Could Push Mainstream Notebook Prices Up by Nearly 40%, Says TrendForce
• [News] Intel Reportedly Warns China of CPU Shortages: Prices Up 10%+, Delivery Times Up to 6 Months

(Photo credit: Intel)