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Ripple effect: PC makers have spent most of this year chasing memory and graphics chips as AI data centers bought up whatever they could. Now the circuit boards those chips sit on are reportedly running short, too. The same factories are busy with far pricier boards for AI servers, so PC orders are getting pushed to the back of the line.

While planning their 2027 lineups, executives at HP and Dell have started worrying about whether they'll get enough boards, Nikkei Asia reports . Even with PC shipments possibly sliding again next year, one manager at an American PC maker said the company still can't get enough of them.

The trouble is that a high-end AI server board can stack dozens of layers of low-loss laminate and specialty glass fabric. So each one ties up far more material and factory time than a desktop motherboard ever would.…