The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial amount of damage to industries and communities around the world. The gaming industry is currently suffering greatly due to a computer chip shortage, as computer chips are a vital component in PCs and consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Now, the computer chip supply has gotten so scarce that computer chips are at the center of smuggling rings.

At the beginning of the pandemic, lockdown restrictions resulted in factory shutdowns in many Eastern countries. The factory shutdowns included semiconductor fabrication plants, limiting the supply of the necessary component for computer chips. With the factories shut down, companies like AMD and Nvidia have not been able to keep up with demand.

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Reports indicate that the shortage may last at least another year, with some countries having stock of GPUs limited to fewer than 20 units. The limited stock has resulted in people trying to smuggle GPUs into countries. Hong Kong customs found an illegal shipment on a fishing boat after a group of suspicious men fled from it.

The shipment contained 300 Nvidia 30HX GPUs, SSDs, RAM, smartphones, and other smuggled goods. The graphics cards are worth about $700 each, or $210,000 in total. The Nividia 30HX graphic card is capable of mining Ethereum and, with 300 graphics cards, could mine about $5,000 worth in a week. Although crypto miners are buying up a ton of graphics cards, Nvidia CFO Colette Kress does not believe crypto mining is causing the hardware shortages.

The computer chip shortage is expected to last until mid-2022 according to Foxconn, a leading electronics manufacturer. The shortage may result in a limited stock of gaming PCs and consoles until the issue is sorted out. The US government is currently taking action on the computer chip shortage after Sony, Microsoft, the Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations sent a letter asking the president for help with the shortage.

President Biden responded by signing an executive order that launched a 100-day investigation into the supply of semiconductors. Hopefully, the investigation will shorten the time of the computer chip shortage, especially since the tech is being smuggled. With pandemic restrictions being loosened in many countries, the supply of computer chips may slowly return to normal. Until then, graphics cards may be fairly difficult to find.

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Source: Government of Hong Kong