Over the past month or so, Intel has been struggling with a looming CPU shortage. Due to the demands placed on their 14nm process, supply has not been keeping up. As expected, these shortages have pushed the prices for the chips way up due to supply and demand. After high prices for a month or so, we are starting to see signs of the ripple effects in the market. For one, AMD chip sales are increasing while OEMs are growing unhappy about the shortages.

The first part of the story makes a lot of sense as the Intel CPUs go up in price. AMD is currently the most competitive they have been in a decade in terms of performance. With such a small performance margin, AMD CPUs at stable prices are more competitive for uninitiated buyers. Fence sitters are also more likely to choose AMD for cost benefit. Furthermore, even those who might want to buy Intel might hold out for lower prices, pushing sales down.