PC companies have had to compete for RAM and GPUs with AI data centers, and now it's motherboards that are in short supply.

The rush to build AI data centers is creating a growing parts crisis. After memory, SSDs and GPUs, the technology industry is now starting to lack the circuit boards used to connect those components together.

According to Nikkei Asia, when planning for 2027 product lines, HP and Dell leaders began to worry about not being able to buy enough motherboards. A manager at an American computer company said supply still cannot meet demand, even though PC shipments are likely to continue to decline next year.

AI server pushes PC to the back of the queue

Boards for AI servers are significantly more complex than those used in conventional computers. A high-end server circuit board can use dozens of layers of material, low-loss laminate and specialized fiberglass cloth to ensure stable high-speed signal operation.

Each such product consumes more materials and takes up a longer production line than a PC motherboard. In return, cloud computing companies are willing to pay higher prices to ensure supply for data centers worth billions of dollars.

This gives circuit board manufacturers an incentive to prioritize orders for AI servers, while components for PCs, cameras and common electronic devices have to take a back seat. Consumers are therefore indirectly affected, even though they do not directly purchase any AI hardware.

The race for production capacity also causes technology corporations to directly invest in suppliers. In September, Amazon bought a stake worth about NT$1.59 billion in Gold Circuit Electronics, a Taiwanese circuit board manufacturer.

Most circuit boards start from copper-coated laminates. A PC manufacturer in Taiwan said the price of this material has increased at least 12 times since July, showing that pressure is appearing right from the beginning of the supply chain.

Meanwhile, one of the world's largest laminate suppliers said its order book is full through 2030. The company is planning to triple capacity by 2028, but additional production capacity has not yet kept pace with data center expansion.

Delivery times are therefore getting longer and longer. One circuit board manufacturer said lead times for many products had doubled, while another supplier warned that new orders placed now could not be delivered until the end of 2028.

Building more factories cannot solve the problem immediately because the PCB industry lacks experienced engineers. Competition for human resources has pushed up wages in this field by about 20-30%, while slowing down the process of expanding the line.

From cameras, medical devices to cheap PCs are affected

The impact of board shortages is not limited to the PC industry. Canon said the lack of circuit boards and components attached to them has disrupted the company's production operations since August.

Canon expects to lose about 90 billion yen in medical device sales this year, partly due to not having enough components to complete the product. This is a sign that the wave of AI investment is affecting even areas that do not directly compete with GPUs, from cameras to health care devices.

PC buyers have been hit by shortages of RAM, SSDs, and GPUs throughout the past year. If motherboards continue to be scarce, computer production costs may increase further in 2027 and 2028, especially in the popular segment, which has low profit margins.

Gartner once predicted that PC models priced under $500 could disappear by 2028. Meanwhile, the RTX 5080 is currently sold for nearly $2,000 at some US retailers, significantly higher than the original list price.

Acer CEO still believes that PC prices may begin to decline in 2027. However, this prospect is increasingly uncertain when even a circuit board order placed today is at risk of not being delivered before the end of next year.

The AI ​​fever is therefore not only making GPUs and memory expensive. It is gradually absorbing materials, human resources and production capacity from the entire supply chain, to the point that the seemingly normal circuit board inside a PC has become a commodity that must be fought over.