Tech Industry Warns Of Memory / LCD Shortage

yankeehack writes: "Oh Joy! The Standard published this article which explains predicted shortages of critical memory and LCD components (resulting in-of course-higher prices and delayed product launches). Component makers including Intel, Hyundai, NEC and Sharp Electronics are among those quoted for the article. Those afflicted by the shortage include Nintendo's Game Boy Advanced handheld console (Does anybody *still* use those?) which will be released 6 months late and mobile phone manufacturers, who are having trouble getting the hardware for all those nifty features they advertise."

Comments

Jesus christ, thank god.

[Moderation abuser]

I thought for a moment that you said there would be a memory and LSD shortage. Had me worried there.

Game boy Advanced...

[maxume]

Has not yet been released, so it wouldn't really be that surprising for someone to be useing one because of it's old age, would it?

Re:Hmmmm....

[sigwinch]

Did I miss a rash of computer sales?

Yeah, you did. Computers are in *everything* these days. Cell phones, PDAs, pagers, games, notebooks, PCs, etc. have all been selling like hotcakes. Demand for consumer electronics has grown across the board, and component suppliers haven't kept up. Capacitors, RAM, and CPUs have particularly constrained supplies.

Try searching Digi-Key for a popular capacitor, like the Panasonic ECU-V1H104KBW, a 0.1 microfarad ceramic chip cap. "Quantity Available: 0 - Check Lead Time". Or try to find surface-mount tantalum capacitors in stock. I just tried >50 popular values, and *nothing* was in stock. The handheld electronics people have sucked them all up (cell phone designers in particular like tantalum caps). This isn't a new phenomenon -- I haven't bothered designing a tantalum cap into a board for at least six months, and the situation is only getting worse.

A few months ago, I had to redesign because a Fairchild *transistor* was unavailable. A few square mm of cheap silicon, and even it had constrained supply. <grumble> I'm starting to get bitter about having to redesign circuits because we can't get a particular part. If I find that a cheap resistor is unavailable, I'm gonna cry. ;-)

And just a few days ago, a colleague told me that Atmel AVR processors will be unavailable until the end of the year. It seems one got designed into the PS2. I feel sorry for the poor bastards who bet their products on that device.