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Never mind Nvidia and AMD; the price of microcontrollers is going through the roof. Microcontrollers are being used in practically everything now. There were problems noted with car manufacturing a month ago; now we may wind up with shortages in every consumer electronic product. The shortage may not be resolved for two years.

There aren't a lot of electronic products that are absolutely essential, but there are a few. Replacement parts for HVAC equipment is the first that comes to mind. Commercial vehicles, agricultural equipment... We need enough spares on hand for that two year period to keep everything running. The component-level repair business may become very important.

There are many other products that have microcontrollers added which aren't truly needed but simpler designs have been driven out of the market. The lack of, for instance, sophisticated toasters and blenders will mean increased demand for non-electronic models. We can do without toasters and blenders, but it's nice to be forewarned that problems may arise.

(This may also reverse the trend of "computerize all teh things" and "IoT", which has its plusses.)

I'd be interested in hearing any other ideas y'all have on the subject.

Never mind Nvidia and AMD; the price of microcontrollers is going through the roof. Microcontrollers are being used in practically everything now. There were problems noted with car manufacturing a month ago; now we may wind up with shortages in every consumer electronic product. The shortage may not be resolved for *two years.* There aren't a lot of electronic products that are absolutely essential, but there are a few. Replacement parts for HVAC equipment is the first that comes to mind. Commercial vehicles, agricultural equipment... We need enough spares on hand for that two year period to keep everything running. The component-level repair business may become very important. There are many other products that have microcontrollers added which aren't truly needed but simpler designs have been driven out of the market. The lack of, for instance, sophisticated toasters and blenders will mean increased demand for non-electronic models. We can do without toasters and blenders, but it's nice to be forewarned that problems may arise. (This may also reverse the trend of "computerize all teh things" and "IoT", which has its plusses.) I'd be interested in hearing any other ideas y'all have on the subject.

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[–] • 4 pts

A large number of devices have got microcontrollers shoved into them that don't even need them. illustrates my point perfectly: that thing doesn't need a microcontroller and BT module, except for maybe the battery charging circuit. Replace all of its guts with a varistor and a power cable, and the price gets cut by 75%. The Internet of Shit is causing everything to be overpriced and unreliable.

[–] • 2 pts

Sure. The problem is you can't simply swap out the microcontroller; you have to rework the chassis, wiring and manufacturing process to accomodate the changes. In the meantime the stores can no longer stock the item while the simplified version works its way through manufacturing and distribution.

Which is why any organization that accounts for this now and starts ramping up for this will gain market share, and benefit both itself and consumers who desire the devices.