引用:

The supply of Intel's new-generation 14nm processors has already fallen short of demand, posing a major variable to the PC market in the second half of 2018, as shipments may be significantly affected, according to industry sources.

After deciding to defer the launch of 10nm CPUs to the second half of 2019, Intel has just released two new 14nm processors: 8th-generation Core U low power mobile processors codenamed Whiskey Lake and Core Y Amber Lake processors for slim notebooks and tablets.

The new super slim notebook models released by Taiwan's Acer at IFA 2018 running August 31-September 9 in Berlin and new MacBook series set to be unveiled in September will all adopt the new processors, the sources said.

Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen noted that though the global PC market is expected to pick up in the second half of 2018, the tight supply of Intel's 14 nm processors will pose a significant challenge to the supply chain management capability of brand vendors.

CP Wong, president of leading notebook ODM Compal Electronics, said that the largest variable to PC market sales in second-half 2018 rests with Intel's CPU actual supply performance rather than the US-China trade war, with the performance already affected by poor yield rates.

Industry sources said that in their product development roadmaps, PC vendors have well scheduled procurements of components and launches of new products, and therefore Intel's processor supply shortfall will surely impact shipments of almost all PC vendors in the second half of the year.

On another front, the sources continued, foreign exchange risks involved in the US-China trade negotiation process are likely to impact revenue and profit performances of PC vendors, and they have to enforce meticulous risk-averting operations to avoid possible undesirable losses.