IBM has joined the ranks of well-known high-tech companies that think this chip crisis will continue for at least a few years. I know it's disappointing. It's the last thing we PC gamers want to hear, but it seems that the top tech companies are planning for a chip shortage through 2022/2023.

To elaborate on the chip shortage would be a waste of time. Most, if not all, of you reading this are acutely aware of how difficult it is to buy a graphics card today. The past year has been a perfect storm of PC gaming shortages, with little sign of stopping.

IBM president Jim Whitehurst told the BBC (via The Guardian), "It takes a long time to build a new factory, so we will be waiting for supplies for a while."

"There's a big time lag between when the technology is developed and when [the fabs] go into construction and the chips come out. [Frankly, it will be two or three years before enough production capacity comes online to alleviate all aspects of the chip shortage."

Whiteharts' comments are very similar to what Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said last month about the chip shortage.

"We believe we have the ability to help," CEO Gelsinger told the Washington Post. 'It's going to take a couple of years before we can fully address it. It just takes a couple of years to build capacity."

TSMC also expressed hesitation about a quick end to the chip crisis. There is no end in sight, at least for this year and next year.

It is not only PC components that are in short supply in this chip shortage. It is primarily automotive chips that have world leaders, including the Biden administration, worried about where the industry will go in the next few years. This chip shortage is likely to boost chip production in the U.S. and Europe, along with the manufacturing powerhouses of Asia, but as most technology leaders acknowledge, it will be some time before these countries start scrapping chips.

At the very least, the only things PC gamers are feeling the squeeze on are graphics cards and, to a lesser extent, high-end CPUs. Everything else seems to be stable enough for now.