Dell, HP warn PC prices could rise due to global chip shortage
By Kathi on May 28, 2021 | 03:38 AM IST
The global chip shortage may have a significant effect on
PC sales and supplies throughout the rest of the year as the industry attempts
to recover following the pandemic, two of the world's leading manufacturers
have warned.
Dell and HP have
said that demand could outstrip supply when it comes to PCs for some time as
the computing world gets back up to speed.
Industries across the world have been affected by the
slowdown in manufacturing of computer chips during the pandemic, with foundries
and manufacturing plants in Taiwan, Japan and other areas all affected by
coronavirus outbreaks and lockdowns.
Both companies issued the warnings as they revealed their
latest financial results, with Dell and HP both revealing better than expected
quarters.
In its Q1 2021 results, Dell reported earnings of $938
million and revenues of $24.5bn, up 12%. This included PC unit revenue growing
20% year-on-year to reach $13.3bn with operating income of $1.1bn, as consumer
PC revenues increased 42% with commercial sales up 14%.
However the company warned that PC prices could soon rise
in order to cope with the scarcity of parts.
"The supply situation has not kept up with the demand
environment as we think about the need for semiconductors," Dell CFO
Thomas Sweet said in the company's earnings call. "And that's an
industry-wide issue, and clearly an issue that the technology industry is
dealing with."
Elsewhere, Dell's infrastructure unit saw Q1 revenues rise
5% to $7.9bn, with servers and networking revenue up 9%.
HP said that PC-related sales rose 27% in its Q2 2021, with
notebook sales growing 47% year-on-year to help push the quarterly revenues to
$15.9bn, up 27.3% from the previous year.
However the company also highlighted that this significant
growth in demand from business and consumers alike could also mean that prices could
rise a result.
"It's just all about demand outpacing supply and
really creating that favorable environment," said Marie Myers, HP CFO.
"So, it's basically just the laws of supply and demand, which helped us
with better pricing in the quarter. Regardless of whether you're sort of
talking year-on-year or quarter-on-quarter, that improvement in gross margin
was primarily driven by favorable pricing, which showed up as fewer promotions
and as cost improvements."