SINGAPORE – A worsening shortage of graphics cards and other key components could make personal computers (PCs) more expensive in the second half of 2026, as manufacturers contend with rising costs and longer delivery times.
PC Partner Group, a Hong Kong-based, Singapore-listed manufacturer of video graphics accelerator (VGA) cards and other computer components, warned on Aug 14 that graphics card availability is likely to deteriorate further in the coming months.
Entry-level graphics cards are expected to face particularly severe shortages, and this could raise average selling prices and make even lower-cost desktop computers more expensive to build, it said.
“The PC market remains highly challenging, with significant supply constraints driving sharp increases in component costs and, in turn, slowing consumer demand,” the company said in its results statement for the first half of 2026.
VGA cards, more commonly known as graphics cards, process and display images on a computer. They contain chips called graphics processing units (GPUs), as well as specialised graphics memory and are essential for gaming, video editing and other graphics-heavy applications.
A shortage or price increase in these chips can affect customers buying graphics cards and raise the cost of pre-built desktops and PCs.
PC Partner, which makes graphics cards powered by GPUs designed by chipmakers such as Nvidia, did not specify reasons for the shortage of these components.
However, media reports have attributed the shortage in part to intensifying demand for advanced chips and memory from AI companies to power their infrastructure.
PC Partner expects that rising graphics memory chip costs will lead to a “substantial increase” in graphics card costs in the second half of 2026.
The company’s revenue rose 1.5 per cent to HK$6.45 billion in the first half of 2026, driven by increased orders to manufacture graphics cards for other companies, as stronger contract-manufacturing sales offset weaker sales of its own brands.
Revenue from own-brand graphics cards fell during the period as a shortage of GPUs and graphics memory constrained sales volumes, although average selling prices rose 10.7 per cent year over year.
The supply problems are also spreading beyond graphics cards. PC Partner said lead times for central processing units, memory and other key components have become “significantly longer”, affecting the wider industry.
The scarcity of these components also disrupted the production of its mini-PCs and electronic products in the first half.
Despite the drop in sales volumes, the higher graphics card prices helped push PC Partner’s net profit up more than twofold to HK$545.5 million in the first half, from HK$250.4 million a year earlier.
PC Partner expects conditions to become tougher for the PC business in the second half as component constraints intensify. However, it plans to begin shipping new GPU servers and AI-related products during the period, which it expects will offset some of the weakness elsewhere.
The company said it remains confident of achieving revenue growth for the full year, with its GPU server and AI business likely to become a key growth driver in the coming years.
Shares of PC Partner closed Aug 14 at $3.23, up 2.2 per cent. Its share price has risen by more than 243 per cent since the start of the year, as global spending on AI infrastructure surged.
