Why your next smartphone and laptop may cost more — even as the chip shortage fades - Firstpost

As global chip shortages gradually ease, consumers may face an unexpected outcome: next-generation smartphones and laptops could see price increases. This phenomenon reflects the complexity of the sem... Read original →

The rollout of 3nm and EUV processes is triggering cascading cost surges across the tech stack: upstream materials like photoresists face steeper specs, while downstream thermal and power designs in devices require costly re-engineering. U.S. export controls and geopolitical volatility around Taiwan, China are compelling Apple and NVIDIA to build redundant supply chains, inflating compliance and logistics costs by over 15%. In response to TSMC’s capacity premiums, Samsung may bundle HBM3E with AI chips to capture premium market share, while Micron bets on CXL-based memory ecosystems to sidestep logic-node competition. Over the next 18 months, rising consumer electronics prices reflect not temporary inflation but a structural imbalance—R&D costs per node now surge over 30%, yet yield ramp timelines lengthen, causing per-watt SoC costs to rise despite Moore’s Law rhetoric.