Things are not looking good for chip supplies as now the problem has affected internet routers. Bloomberg’s recent report about broadband providers experiencing delays in receiving router orders means that the global chip shortage has claimed another victim.
Unlike NVIDIA and AMD’s shortage situation, as of this moment it seems like internet providers and carriers are the primary victims of the router shortage with orders quoted for 60 weeks waiting time according to anonymous sources.
Now this is bad news for both carriers and consumers. As routers become increasingly sparse, new subscribers can’t come in as no router can be provided to them that is configured for the telco’s network. With the broadband internet market becoming more fiercely competitive and highly in-demand during the pandemic, there is a surge of new users filling up telco space at an incredible pace.
Taiwan-based router maker Zyxel Communications’ head of European regional business Karsten Gewecke cites the prolonged factory shutdown caused by the pandemic from last year and then followed by the massive burst of demand soonafter did not help the situation. Huawei has also notified customers that there will be leadtime extensions in the coming months.
As demands spike and production unable to keepup due to wafer shortages, it is still unclear when the chip shortage will die down. For routers, carriers are now stockpiling and expanding warehouse and stock inventory to avoid zeroing out.
