Chip price hike due to Japanese earthquake

Hynix, Sony, Texas Instruments and Toshiba factories have been closed or affected to name a few.

Sony has 8 factories that make optical devices, IC cards, blu-ray discs, chip equipment and lithium batteries closed. Wintek, which makes the touch module for the iPad 2 have limited inventory left but are looking for secondary suppliers to replace Japanese ones.

Even if the factories get back on their feet quickly, the lack of power and transportation will still cause difficulties as well as sourcing the components required to make equipment or modules.

Even a few weeks of delays will increase the price of smartphones and computers for many months to come.