Despite Ethereum moving to a proof of stake at some point, and the potential for improved stock of AMD and Nvidia (and soon Intel) GPUs in 2022, that might not do much to stem the tide of price increases across all forms of PC hardware. The problem isn't availability this time, though, but pricing, with constantly swamped fabricator, TSMC, announcing that it's going to be increasing its prices for all customers moving forward.
TSMC has emerged over the past few years, as the dominant semiconductor fabricator for cutting edge hardware, offering 3nm 5nm, and 7nm process nodes to the likes of AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple, among others. It makes billions in profit per year, and with the ongoing silicon shortage, that only seems likely to continue. It'll make even more once it jacks up its prices though, which it plans to do this year, by as much as a whopping 20%.
It claims that pandemic shortages, freight costs, and logistics are behind the move, but with so many major industries in its vice like grip of supply, you can't help but be sceptical.
Agreements have already been made with TSMC from major companies like Nvidia and Apple, which may lock them down before price increases are truly felt, but it seems likely that any major cost jumps will be passed on to the consumer.
Considering the RTX 3090 Ti is already often priced over $3,000, it seems unlikely that RTX 4000 cards -- set to release later this year -- will be any more affordable.
Image source: TSMC