one year of shortages: a deep-dive into the reason, impact and what is ahead of us

More components are being produced and shipped than ever before. Major infrastructure vendors have reported steady revenue growth quarter after quarter. So why does it feel like everything is harder to get, more expensive, and less predictable than it was two years ago?

If you’ve been feeling the pressure of longer lead times, unpredictable availability, and rising hardware costs, you’re not alone. But it doesn’t have to slow you down. In this article, we explain what’s really happening in the market and how the right approach can keep your infrastructure moving.

AI demand is changing the market

Demand is growing faster than supply ever could. Global semiconductor spending reached $793 billion in 2025 (a 21% year-over-year surge), driven almost entirely by demand for AI infrastructure. Deloitte projects that AI chips alone will account for approximately half of all global chip revenue in 2026. Meanwhile, the three companies that control most of the global memory production have systematically pivoted their manufacturing capacity toward High-Bandwidth Memory for GPU clusters.

This means that the enterprise IT components that power everyday business infrastructure are now subject to levels of supply variability that most procurement teams have never had to plan around.

The good news? The right infrastructure strategy can turn this challenge into a competitive advantage. We anticipated these market dynamics, and by maintaining strategic stock across multiple hardware generations and combining it with our Fit-for-Purpose approach, we can make sure it doesn’t become your problem.

the queue is real and it’s not emptying anytime soon

In early 2026, analyst firm Omdia surveyed 186 channel partners and found that more than 90% had already experienced changes to vendor fulfillment timelines, and more than 70% had seen price increases implemented. According to Sourceability’s Q4 2025 Lead Time Report, DDR5 spot prices are up 307% from September 2025. Deloitte’s 2026 Semiconductor Outlook projects memory prices to spike by 50% or more by mid-2026.

The underlying cause is structural and not cyclical. Building a new semiconductor fabrication plant takes a minimum of three years, and new capacity currently coming online is heavily prioritized toward advanced AI chips, meaning relief for standard enterprise components is not expected before 2027 at the earliest.

For European organizations, there is an additional layer of exposure. The European Court of Auditors concluded in its Special Report 12/2025 that the EU’s Chips Act is “highly unlikely” to meet its target of 20% of global semiconductor production by 2030. Europe’s actual share is projected to reach only 11.7%, which means European organizations will remain dependent on Asian manufacturing for the foreseeable future.

waiting on the sidelines is not a strategy

When component availability tightens and pricing becomes volatile, the organizations most affected are those operating with a single-track procurement model: identify the requirement, issue a PO, wait for delivery, and deploy.

KPMG’s 21st Annual Global Semiconductor Industry Survey found that industry leaders are highly confident about 2026 growth but are increasingly focused on tariffs, trade policy, and supply chain stability, with 54% now prioritizing geographic supply chain diversification as a strategic priority.

IT leaders are being asked to deliver more with tighter budgets and infrastructure timelines that cannot wait for a supply chain to stabilize. That’s exactly where our Fit-for-Purpose and circular IT approach delivers.

when did “right-sized” become less important than “brand new”?

One of the most common and costly mistakes in enterprise IT procurement is over-specifying. Buying the latest hardware generation makes sense when those capabilities are genuinely required. But for a large proportion of enterprise use cases, the latest and greatest hardware simply is not necessary.

This is the foundation of our Fit-for-Purpose (FFP) methodology. Rather than defaulting to the newest available specification, we map your actual workload requirements to the hardware that delivers exactly the right performance without paying a premium for capabilities you will never use.

The organizations that are navigating 2026 most effectively are those that have rethought their procurement model entirely: moving away from a reflexive “buy new” default and toward a deliberate, needs-first approach. That shift naturally leads to circular IT, and the market data backs it up.

circular IT: the infrastructure answer that’s already in stock

Omdia’s February 2026 research confirms that the business case for refurbished IT has never been stronger. Adoption is accelerating across the enterprise segment as organizations formally integrate circular procurement into their cost and ESG frameworks. This trend is corroborated by multiple market analysts, who project double-digit annual growth in the refurbished IT segment through 2030.

At Ynvolve, circular IT has always been the basis of our model, not as a reaction to market conditions, but as a long-held conviction about how technology infrastructure should be managed across its full lifecycle.

Many of the components and configurations you need are already available through our inventory and sourcing network, helping reduce dependency on a single supply path. And because we maintain strategic stock across multiple hardware generations and configurations, we can match your actual needs, not just sell what is most convenient.

your infrastructure strategy deserves better than “wait and see”

If your organization is planning infrastructure investments in 2026 or managing unexpected budget pressure from hardware repricing, we would love to have a conversation.

We can assess your workload requirements, identify where Fit-for-Purpose alternatives deliver equivalent outcomes at a fraction of the cost, and help you build a procurement strategy that is resilient and more sustainable.

The market has changed. Let’s make sure your infrastructure strategy is ready for it. Contact our team today!