Ugap Warns: Not Everyone Will Be Satisfied

For Ugap, the public purchasing center, the semiconductor crisis has caused PC prices to explode. And now threatens the volume availability of machines.

AdvertisementThe shortage of components threatens the supply of PCs to IT departments. It is no longer even a question of price, but rather of the availability of machines in volume, warns Frédéric Trinquecoste, the director of IT purchasing at Ugap. For the public purchasing center, which published an economic report on the subject in mid-February, the tension on the global markets for electronic components has been increasing since 2024. This results from the acceleration of investments in AI, “leading to a priority reallocation of industrial capacities towards these uses, to the detriment of traditional segments”, writes the public body.

For Frédéric Trinquecoste, this appetite from hyperscalers and other AI companies has depleted the capacities of the main PC manufacturers: Dell, HP and Lenovo. “The first effect was a tidal wave in prices, first affecting memory sticks. With a surge of 600 to 700% in prices between October 2025 and now,” continues the director of IT purchasing, a sector which accounts for 41% of the €6.4 billion in purchases by the central office last year. The consequence, according to Frédéric Trinquecoste? Memory now weighs on average more than a third of the price of a PC, a doubling in a few months. If we add SSDs for storage, we now reach 55% of the total bill, according to Ugap.

Order and never be delivered

If the phenomenon, which therefore primarily concerns DRAM – a market concentrated around three players (the Koreans Samsung and SK Hynix and the American Micron) -, but also SSD storage (NAND memory), results in a doubling, even tripling of the public prices of PCs, it is now the very availability of the machines which raises questions, assures Ugap. “The manufacturers did not sense the wind coming and found themselves unable to negotiate with their suppliers. Today, you can very well order machines at the price asked by a manufacturer and never receive them,” says Frédéric Trinquecoste. Without also forgetting the lengthening of deadlines, which are now measured in months.

If Ugap indicates that the distributors holding the markets (Computacenter, Econocom, Ingram or SCC) have ordered additional quantities to cover most of the needs identified for the coming weeks, “only part of these needs can be covered, and this, with delivery times probably longer than usual”, recognizes the purchasing center in its note.

The thin client option comes out of the closet

Incidentally, this toughening is not necessarily bad news for Ugap. Because if the center purchased 350,000 workstations last year for public clients (the State, but also its operators, companies with a public service mission, health establishments and communities), this represents ‘only’ 15% of the total needs of these actors. Tensions on the PC market are likely to push new players to turn to Ugap to secure their supplies. Logically, Frédéric Trinquecoste therefore indicates that his teams are mobilized on the execution of the markets.

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“We will have to make decisions regarding frugality, postpone investment decisions or decommission and reuse certain equipment,” warns Frédéric Trinquecoste, director of IT purchasing at Ugap. (Photo: DR)

The IT purchasing director also says he has asked market holders to expand the offer to new manufacturers, such as Acer or Asus. Provided of course that these provide the guarantees of stability over time expected by IT departments. “But public contractors must also make decisions regarding frugality, postpone investment decisions or decommission and reuse certain equipment,” warns Frédéric Trinquecoste, who recommends in particular studying the extension of the guarantee and reconsidering strategies based on thin clients. “As for reconditioned products, they are present in all our markets and represent several thousand jobs per year. But we can expect inflation to spread to this segment,” analyzes the IT purchasing director.

Delivery clause within 45 days neutralized

In this context, Ugap attempts to position itself as a guarantor of the availability of the machines needed by its public sector clients – in particular through the creation of a buffer stock of “several thousand machines” in its warehouses – and the best prices. Even if the center acknowledges having modified its markets to adapt to the tensions of the moment. In particular with a review clause on prices at the time of notification of contracts, to take into account inflation between the call for tenders and the completion of the agreement. “However, we ask distributors to produce letters from manufacturers attesting to price increases,” specifies Frédéric Trinquecoste. The purchasing director also says he has neutralized the delivery clause within 45 days, to take into account current realities. And the situation is expected to last at least throughout 2026, according to Ugap which expects further price increases – particularly on the most requested configurations – and the gradual closure of certain references.