BEIJING, Feb 7, 2026, 17:58 (GMT+8)
- Intel has told certain clients in China to brace for server CPU delivery times that might stretch out as long as six months, according to sources.
- Intel’s server CPU prices in China are running at least 10% above typical levels, according to a source. Meanwhile, certain AMD lead times have pushed out to as much as 8–10 weeks.
- That squeeze isn’t just about AI chips anymore—it’s now hitting so-called “traditional” server hardware like CPUs and memory, too.
Intel and AMD have told Chinese customers to expect lengthy delays for some server CPUs, according to people familiar with the notifications. Intel, in particular, has warned that certain shipments could take up to six months to arrive. In the past few weeks, those warnings have also pushed Intel’s server CPU prices in China up by more than 10% in many instances, one person said.
Delays are hitting just as Chinese AI and cloud firms push to build out more data centers, with artificial intelligence infrastructure spending climbing. CPUs, essential for running servers, have become a bottleneck—deployments can’t move forward if these general-purpose chips are scarce, even if AI accelerators are on hand.
With over 20% of Intel’s revenue tied to China, any supply hiccups there quickly become a headache for both the chipmaker and its clients. Longer lead times—the lag from placing an order to getting the goods—put pressure on buyers, who might end up shelling out more, postponing new systems, or dealing with both problems at once.
According to two people, Intel is rationing shipments of its fourth- and fifth-generation Xeon processors in China, where supply has gotten especially tight. The same sources said there’s now a backlog of orders at Intel, and clearing it could take months.
According to a third source, AMD has notified clients of supply constraints, extending lead times for certain products to between eight and 10 weeks. AMD, for its part, stated: “We remain confident in our ability to meet customer demand globally,” and pointed to supplier agreements along with its relationship with contract manufacturer TSMC.
Intel’s feeling the heat from the AI surge, noting that quick uptake has pushed up “traditional compute” demand—those regular server chips that run next to AI processors. Inventory? The company sees it “at lowest level in Q1,” and says supply should get better come the second quarter.
AI infrastructure budgets are already pushing memory chip prices higher, as demand for these core server parts keeps climbing. That pressure is now spilling over into CPUs, where shortages are starting to bite—making them the latest bottleneck for new server rollouts.
The global server CPU space looks very different these days. Intel, which commanded over 90% of the market in 2019, is down to roughly 60% in 2025, UBS numbers show. AMD, meanwhile, has surged — grabbing north of 20%, up from just 5% back in 2019, per the same UBS report cited in recent reporting.
Chinese buyers range from leading server makers to big cloud outfits like Alibaba and Tencent, according to the sources. The crunch comes down to Intel struggling with manufacturing yields, plus TSMC focusing resources on AI chips—leaving CPUs fighting for space, the sources noted.
A distributor handling both server CPUs and memory said customers in China began ramping up CPU buys late last year as memory prices climbed, hoping to secure cheaper memory while they still could. The sources also flagged growing interest in “agentic AI”—systems designed to handle multi-step tasks beyond just chatbots—which often need more CPU horsepower compared to previous types of workloads.
Intel jumped roughly 5% late Friday in U.S. trading; AMD outpaced it, up 8%. Buyers in China, though, faced fresh warnings about extended delivery times. Even so, TipRanks pointed to the gains, as investors seemed to balance ongoing supply strain with persistent AI-driven demand.
But if AI demand keeps roaring and memory supply doesn’t catch up, that squeeze could intensify—CPU lead times might stretch even longer, and prices could climb again. According to tech outlet Wccftech, the server CPU shortage is just one piece of a bigger supply mess. They warn the crunch could start hitting other PC components too, putting fresh price pressure well beyond the data center.
Intel execs have been flagging the demand-supply gap since their last earnings. “In the short term, I’m disappointed that we are not able to fully meet the demand in our markets,” CEO Lip-Bu Tan admitted to analysts back in January. https://www.reuters.com/business/intel-for…
