According to Digitimes, PC chip orders had remained strong in the third quarter when PC brands and ODMs were staying with their product roadmaps for new product developments, undeterred by market reports indicating the looming shortfalls of CPUs from Intel.

But it looks like any surge in interest in PCs and PC chips has effectively been hamstrung by Intel which has not provided enough.

The supply of CPU worsened recently as global PC replacement demand remain relatively strong in the second half of 2018, forcing Intel to give the priority to the supply of CPUs used in enterprise and premium PCs models.

Intel's supply policy has forced a number of brands and ODMs to temporarily suspend their new product development projects and also forced them to cut back or delay related IC orders, commented the sources.

Intel has promised to fix the problem in the first quarter of 2019 and IC suppliers believe that PC brands or ODMs are unlikely to restore their IC inventories until then.