Buying a smartphone or a PC may be a hell of a hassle in a few weeks – Frandroid

Several regions of China impose rationing of electricity consumption. Consequence: Factories are idling and this can greatly affect your future purchases of tech products.

Stack of three smartphones // Source: Frandroid

It’s no secret. Our consumer societies are very dependent on China, which represents 30% of world production, all products combined. This statement is particularly true in the tech sector. So, if the powerful machine that is the Middle Empire begins to cough, the whole world threatens to catch a cold. However, the Asian giant is forced to ration its electricity consumption and this can affect or even prevent the purchase of your future. smartphone, computer or any electronic device.

Here are some explanations to fully understand the situation as a whole.

How affected is China by power cuts?

In fact, some parts of China have been used to more or less regular blackouts for a very long time. Nevertheless, ” their frequency has sharply increased since the second half of last year», Indicates the South China Morning Post. The Hong Kong-based newspaper notably mentions angry residents complaining on social media ” that the power cuts occurred during peak hours without sufficient warning“.

A Chinese power station in Jungliangcheng in China // Source: Wikimedia Commons

We also learn that during the past month, “ 16 of the 31 provinces […] implemented electricity rationing measures, arousing the concern of a large part of the population and plunging the country’s industrial sector into chaos “ .

What is the cause of these electricity rationing?

To explain these intensive power cuts in China, two reasons are put forward: a shortage of coal combined with an ecological transition policy pushed by the head of state Xi Jinping. The president wants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. He even told the United Nations that no new coal-fired power plant would be built on his country’s soil. In this regard, Beijing wants to ensure that 20% of its electricity in 2025 comes from renewable energies (wind, hydro, etc.).

Xi Jinping at the 2015 Paris Conference on Climate Change // Source: UNclimatechange

Problem: at present, China still depends heavily on coal which still accounts for 70% of its electricity production according toBloomberg . However, the policy of the Chinese regime has slowed down the extraction of this fuel while the demand for electricity from Chinese production lines has increased sharply, particularly at the end of the crisis caused by the Covid-19.

In short, the production of coal in China could not keep up with the production of electricity dependent on coal during the first eight months of the year 2021. At the same time, provinces in the north of the country had to forecast stocks of this raw material to ensure heating during the coming winter. So that also limited stocks.

What impact on your purchases of tech products?

As mentioned above: this crisis has prompted more than half of the provinces in China to impose electricity rationing. This involves in particular a forced interruption of production lines in the factories of several manufacturers.Nikkei Asiawrites for example that component suppliers for Apple, Tesla, Intel, Nvidia or Qualcomm are affected by these measures.

Apple iPhone 13 // Source: FRANDROID – Anthony WONNER

In the city of Suzhou, factories had to go without electricity for five days. Same story in Jiangsu. Here in France, a source suggested toFrandroidthat suppliers in China would call their business partners to warn them that their factories would be idling several days a week. This crisis is therefore likely to last in a context where the tech sector is already hit by a global semiconductor shortage.

Let’s sum up the situation. The world’s factory must slow down its production in a context where semiconductors are already scarce. At the end of the day, consumers are therefore likely to be faced with major inventory concerns… and price increases. The end of the year celebrations are indeed pushing many people to buy products (smartphones, PCs, tablets, TVs, etc.). Demand will therefore be very strong for a much weaker supply.

A hard time.