Realtek Chip Shortage Is More Bad News for PC, Components Market

It seems that Realtek has joined the long list of supply chain bottlenecks. DigiTimes today reported that the company is struggling to meet demand for the various chips manufacturers use in their notebooks, automobiles and other kinds of devices.

In the story, DigiTimes remarked that Realtek has extended their delivery lead times to 32 weeks as the capacity of the foundries is currently tight and there are shortfalls in the supply of the necessary raw materials.

Realtek is reportedly falling short of demand for wired networking (Ethernet chips and switches) and wireless communication chips such as Bluetooth. There are alternative solutions, of course, but Realtek is said to supply 70% of the audio+LAN chips used in the global notebook market. Manufacturers can't just find alternative suppliers for all those notebooks—especially during a global chip shortage.

All of this means that Realtek's problems are in many ways the rest of the world's problems. DigiTimes said the company's supply issues have caused production delays for notebook makers, the automotive industry and other sectors.

Nathaniel Mott
Freelance News & Features Writer

Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.

  • Geef
    Finally! :LOL:

    Many years ago, I bought a Soundblaster Z to prepare my system for the Realtek Chip Shortage! :ROFLMAO:
    Reply
  • watzupken
    Geef said:
    Finally! :LOL:

    Many years ago, I bought a Soundblaster Z to prepare my system for the Realtek Chip Shortage! :ROFLMAO:
    It won't help. Motherboards mostly use Realtek chips to power their LAN, wireless connection (if any), and sound. If any of these chips are in short supply, motherboard makers are unlikely to deliver an incomplete motherboard. So in short if this is true, then you will see a knock on impact on desktop, laptop and tablets (less so on tablets).
    Reply
  • Matt_ogu812
    One has to wonder W.I.G.N. did Realtek put all their eggs in one basket by not having a second sources for a 'what if' scenario like what is happening now.
    Thinking that if a shortage were to occur that they would capitalize on it by just raising prices? Good times or bad times they'll still be in the money.
    Reply
  • customer2
    watzupken said:
    It won't help. Motherboards mostly use Realtek chips to power their LAN, wireless connection (if any), and sound. If any of these chips are in short supply, motherboard makers are unlikely to deliver an incomplete motherboard. So in short if this is true, then you will see a knock on impact on desktop, laptop and tablets (less so on tablets).

    USB sound card and WIFI adapter are here to help.
    Reply