Although there is still no evidence and Intel has not confirmed these rumors, the initial price increases and statements by several experts seem to confirm that from now to the next few months there may be problems in covering demand for 14 nm chips, a production node currently used by both eighth and ninth generation models, the latter coming soon. This is a potential problem not only for users but also for Intel partners, even in profitable areas such as notebooks.
Intel’s prices are gradually rising due to the shortage of processors needed to meet demand, and are already showing rates for the best-selling models. The i7-8700K reached U$S 400, while the i5-8400 was already sold for U$S 225 and the i3-8100 for U$S 155.
Remember that the i7-8700K was launched for U$ 359 and sold for U$S 320, while the i5-8400 was launched for U$S 184 and seen for U$S 170 or less. On the side of the i3-8100 it was started for U$S 117 and now costs U$S 155.
The 14-nanometer manufacturing process has been used by Intel since the Skylake CPUs in 2015 and has been further developed over time. So the problem seems to be purely numerical: The requirements for 14-nanometer chips exceed the most optimistic expectations. One has to consider that Intel not only manufactures CPUs but also motherboard chipsets, not only the modems of the new iPhone but also all components at 14 nm.
Jason Chen, CEO of Acer, confirmed in recent days that the CPU shortage is already affecting partner production. Also, other rumors speak of higher prices than the next ninth generation CPUs, including the expected i9-9700K and i9-9900K
Compared to the AMD line the Ryzen 7 2700X costs U$S 329, the Ryzen 5 2600X costs U$S 209 and the Ryzen 5 2600X costs U$S 189, which are much lower prices than Intel and offer a performance that is not too far away in games and superior in multi-thread tasks.
Undoubtedly, Intel will be in big trouble these months. AMD continues to grow, while Intel continues to run refits and has problems in its factories.