Image of Intel Chips for blog about Intel Chip Shortages
General Interest, News, Small Business Networks

Two Years On, Intel Chip Shortages Continue

Two years ago, almost exactly, I wrote about the Intel chip shortages created by their manufacturing debacle. Intel was moving production from 14nm toward newer, potentially faster 10nm technology. Their manufacturing process did not go well, to say the least. This caused a chip shortage, since Intel supplies the lion’s share of Central Processing Units – CPUs, often referred to as computer chips, or just chips. Image of Intel Chips for blog about Intel Chip ShortagesNow, two years later and with a new CEO in place, Intel has stepped back to 14nm and increased production. That should be good news for availability, but demand has only increased in the meantime. 

Meanwhile, competitor AMD moved to 7nm chips manufactured by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) who uses a different process. AMD currently beats Intel for performance in its top-of-the-line chips. In spite of that, I’m rooting hard for Intel, who manufactures their chips mostly in the US and Europe. Many of our clients are manufacturers, so we prefer to support US manufacturing when possible.

In late 2020, supply improved and you could actually get your hands on a PC rather easily. It seemed the shortage was over. WRONG! In March of 2021, here we go again! Searching for a particular HP computer this morning yielded NOTHING from several suppliers including the HP Store. A few minutes of searching the Internet led me to articles and videos about global chip shortages. Here’s a video of HP’s CEO talking about component shortages for PC’s and printers.

Note that HP’s stock prices and profits are better than ever. Their numbers COULD be even better if the supply could meet the demand! HP says that demand for PC’s is 45% greater than HP’s projections from only a few months ago. As I write this, my main supplier shows my go-to PC is out of stock and 1,350 are on order with no promised date.

This chip shortage affects more than computers and laptops. According to an article on CNBC, auto makers are slowing or halting production due to chip shortages.  Auto makers are always in the news, but think about all the other devices that are now “smart.”  These chip shortages impact many, many industries.

Of course, we will survive this latest problem, but patience and flexibility will be required, just like in 2019 and 2020!

Take care and be well!

 

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Image of empty shelves to illustrate post: Intel Shortages Continue
News, Small Business Networks

Intel Shortages Continue

Here we are, in December, and Intel’s chip supply issue is no better – actually worse – than when I wrote of the problem in May.

My go-to computer for business use, the HP ProDesk 400 G6 with an Intel i5 processor and an SSD drive, is now a tough find.  Very tough. I have used units with a hard drive, and installed my own SSD. Now even those are difficult to come by.

Intel Logo for article on Intel Shortages Continue
Intel Logo

Back in January of this year, Intel CEO Bob Swan said, “Supply remained constrained particularly at the value end of our product range.  We are working closely with our customers to align demand with available supply while we add capacity and we expect supply-demand balance to improve by mid-year.”

Wrong, Bob. As I write this, my supplier shows my preferred desktop is not only out-of-stock, but they have 7,384 of them on order. I would say “supply-demand balance” has not improved.

Not only is this a huge problem for consumers who want to purchase a PC, it’s become a problem for PC manufacturers, particularly HP and Dell. Check out this article for Tom’s Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/dell-amd-pcs-intel-cpu-shortage which says Dell is evaluating AMD CPU’s as a possible alternative to Intel processors. I don’t know how soon they could get PC’s to market though, since this involves a different processor AND motherboard. In the article, it says:

Dell CFO Tom Sweet told Yahoo that Dell doesn’t expect Intel’s shortage to improve until the second half of 2020 and is “evaluating” AMD processors.

Did you catch that? The second half of 2020. Yikes.

Another alternative exists, which is Lenovo. While HP and Dell have a few products using AMD processors, Lenovo has several. Of course, as consumers begin buying AMD-based systems in greater numbers, we could very well see a shortage of AMD chips as well.

Microsoft’s end-of-support for Windows 7 is partly creating this demand, as consumers weigh a lengthy upgrade to Windows 10 vs. just buying new computers that already have Windows 10.

Any of my clients wanting to buy PC’s (or servers for that matter) should contact me. The situation is rapidly-changing.  Prospects should contact us as well, even for Windows 10 upgrades.  Whatever your inquiry, we welcome you to contact us.

 

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14 Jan 2021: Post updated to include links to new company pages on Social Networks.

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Intel Logo for article on Intel Shortages
News, Small Business Networks

Intel Shortages Now A Major Problem

Intel shortages are hitting home.  My go-to computer for business networks, the HP ProDesk 400 G5 with an Intel i5 processor and an SSD drive, is now a tough find.  Very tough.

My regular supplier has none in stock with an SSD, and even none with a hard drive.  Models with AMD processors are available, but I’m not a huge fan of AMD processors. They tell me I can still place an order for a ProDesk 400 and get in line.  As I write this, my supplier gave me a one-week wait.  That’s not terrible, but the trend is going the wrong way!  Plus, l I don’t have much faith in that one week estimate.  

In a conference call with financial analysts, Intel CEO

Intel Logo for article on Intel Shortages
Intel Logo

Bob Swan said, “Supply remained constrained particularly at the value end of our product range.  We are working closely with our customers to align demand with available supply while we add capacity and we expect supply-demand balance to improve by mid-year.”

Remove the jargon and he’s saying the situation will not improve for a few months.  Intel is concentrating their production on server Central Processing Units – CPUs – and high-end desktop CPUs which are more profitable. He does not seem very concerned, because Intel is still doing great financially.

Intel also announced their Gen9 CPU is using 10nm technology at the end of 2018. They are having trouble producing a good product though. I would expect the new processors to be featured in the ProDesk G6 computers, which have NOT been announced yet. 

All of this means the business PC market is a mess. Dell is no better, by the way. If you want to order computers, I will have to search and let you know what I can find.  Just today, I ordered three PCs with hard drives (priced higher than I would like), then separately ordered SSD drives to install in them.  Where there’s a will, there’s a way, including overcoming Intel shortages.  Obviously, it’s best if you don’t order a computer at the last minute!

See the December 23, 2019 update, Intel Shortages Continue, at https://www.greatlakests.com/intel-shortages/

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14 Jan 2021: Post updated to include links to new company pages on Social Networks.

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Cytracom Logo for Mullarky Business Systems Partners page and post
Geek Stuff, News, Security, Small Business Networks, VoIP Services

See the new Mullarky Business Systems Partners Page

We have a new Mullarky Business Systems Partners page.   

Find the page (much like this post) at https://www.greatlakests.com/about/great-lakes-tech-services-partners/

Mullarky business systems is proud to work with many fine global, national and Wisconsin firms – all there to help us do a better job of serving you, our clients.  Here’s a sampling of Mullarky Business Systems Partners:

Datto

Datto - Datto provides our preferred backup solution. Their big advantage is recovery time. A conventional file-based backup is fine for some businesses, but in most cases, downtime is VERY costly. Datto shrinks downtime dramatically. We have been an active Datto partner since 2014.

http://Datto.com

Cytracom

Cytracom - Mullarky Business Systems, LLC is a Cytracom partner. Eliminate your phone lines and run your phone system over your existing computer network. We are able to install Cytracom systems with no contract, and FREE phones.

https://Cytracom.com

Hewlett Packard

HP - Hewlett Packard is our preferred brand for PC's. Our standard desktop has an i5 processor and a solid-state drive. Hewlett Packard Enterprise spun off from HP in 2015. HPE is our preferred provider of servers, SAN's and related equipment.

https://HP.com

Intel

Intel - Mullarky Business Systems, LLC exclusively sells systems powered by Intel processors.

http://Intel.com

Barracuda

Barracuda - E-mail Security - Barracuda offers spam and virus filtering for e-mail domains. Barracuda charges a minimum of 50 seats. We maintain an account and sub-divide it, allowing smaller clients to take advantage of this service at a very reasonable price.

https://www.Barracuda.com

Microsoft

Microsoft - We work on Windows servers and Windows clients. Most of the PC's run Microsoft Office software. We are very familiar with Microsoft's products and have been a Microsoft partner since day one.

https://www.Microsoft.com

Office 365

Microsoft Office 365 Services - Office 365 can give a small business the advantages of an Exchange e-mail server without the expense of having one in-house. If desired, you can step-up to a plan that lets each user run Microsoft Office on their devices.

https://Products.Office.com

Sonicwall

SonicWall - This is our preferred firewall for small companies. It is capable of advanced features, but is fairly simple to program.

https://www.SonicWall.com

Web Root

Webroot - Mullarky Business Systems, LLC offers Webroot to its clients for virus/malware prevention. We've been using Webroot since 2016 and it offers a number of advantages for service providers. Most importantly, it's effective!

https://www.WebRoot.com/us/en/business

Eaton

Eaton is a leading provider of backup power UPS, or uninterruptible power systems. Eaton UPSs deliver high quality, reliable backup power for everything from network closets and server rooms to enterprise and colocation data centers.

http://www.Eaton.com/us/en-us/products/backup-power-ups-surge-it-power-distribution/backup-power-ups.html

OnYourMark

OnYourMark - Keith Klein is my "web site guy". There are a lot of "web site guys" and I could even do this myself. Keith's strength is the online marketing that accompanies the web site.

https://www.OnYourMark.com/

WisOwners

Wisconsin Business Owners - I started attending this Meetup group in 2011 and I'm still a member. In fact, I am now an organizer. We meet monthly for a Lunch and Learn. The speakers are great and the food is good. The networking has been very valuable.

https://www.WisOwners.com/

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