The current chip shortage is extending to crucial power and management controller silicon, risking server production as manufacturers reallocate resources towards more profitable AI server components. Market analyst TrendForce has cut its 2026 server shipment growth estimate from 20% to 13%, attributing the decline to extended delivery times for key server components. The memory chip supply issue, already known to readers, is now affecting server CPUs and hard disks as manufacturers prioritize high-margin server DRAM and AI infrastructure. Despite continuing demand for general-purpose servers, suppliers are facing nearly a year-long lead time for some integral components. Consequently, the availability of essential server elements such as power management chips (PMICs) and Baseboard Management Controllers is being significantly delayed. TrendForce notes that AI-driven demand for data center products is a substantial factor in this problem. AI servers, equipped with high-performance hardware like GPUs, require more power than standard systems. As Samsung plans to close its 8-inch wafer fab in Korea, PMIC availability for general servers will further tighten, exacerbating the situation. These PMICs, utilizing older wafer technology, are seeing reduced investment focus due to the industry’s propensity for cutting-edge CPU and GPU production processes. The auto industry’s struggles post-COVID due to mature-process capacity shortages underscore these issues. Similarly, BMCs, fitted on server motherboards to monitor system health, are in decreasing supply as manufacturing efforts focus on AI-specific chips. TrendForce reports that this shortage is likely to impact enterprise buyers the hardest, while major clients like global cloud providers secure their orders in advance. With AI server demands from leading providers projected to boost sector growth by 28% in 2026, this ongoing trend doesn’t show signs of slowing. ®