the component market is undergoing substantial transformation. Memory prices have doubled. Enterprise SSD supply won’t normalize until late 2027 at the earliest. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut off helium supply critical to chip fabrication, stalled hyperscaler data center builds, and driven freight costs high enough to break international remarketing economics. China’s rare earth export controls — with a key suspension expiring November 10, 2026 — are adding licensing friction to the same semiconductor supply chains that determine what secondary market hardware is worth.
Market Briefing – Component Market: Motherboards in Freefall as AI Soaks Up the Silicon
While global PC shipments seemingly returned to growth in Q1 2026, driven by inventory movements, leading motherboard makers are guiding for shipment declines of more than 25% as manufacturing capacity is redirected toward AI and data‑center components, tightening the screws on the traditional PC ecosystem. What it means for ITADs and recyclers.
Metals and electronics recycling firms report stronger downstream trends
Recent earnings updates from Aurubis, Umicore and Sims Limited suggest that parts of the downstream metals and electronics recycling market remain comparatively healthy heading into the remainder of 2026. The companies cited supportive precious-metal and non-ferrous pricing, strong recycling activity levels, and continued demand for high-value secondary materials, even as they warned of ongoing pressure from feedstock tightness and volatile treatment charges.
Iron Mountain puts ITAD at the center of its growth story, but exposures to component prices and hyperscale demand could test it
Iron Mountain's first-quarter results look exceptional on the surface, and in many respects they are. But a closer...
Research: The Independent ITAD Operator in the United States
Strategic Positioning, Structural Risks, and the Coming Capital Inflection A Primary-Research-Based Strategic...
Wearables are coming
Over 600 million wearables shipped last year, representing the equivalent of smartphone-scale volume. And unlike...
Industry Alert: Brace For a Printer Surge as Microsoft Ends Legacy Driver Support this Year
Just as the end of Windows 10 support triggered an unusually high PC refresh cycle, Microsoft's decision to end legacy...
Part 2: 2026 Predictions for ITAD and Electronics Recycling: Differentiation, Indigestion, and the End of Commodity Assumptions
As the ITAD and electronics recycling sectors move into 2026, the outlook is about how structural change will be...
How acquisitions are fueling ITAD sector activity
Outlook: A booming device market spells good news for the disposition and recycling sectors and for the second-hand market
More than half of US enterprises don’t track their laptops, as 22% of the retired assets are missing
SIMS Warning is another Sign of a Pending ITAD Sector Reconfiguration
Will Arrow Electronics Focus on Cleaning Up its ITAD Acquisitions?
Desechos Electrónicos En América Latina
Data Security: Blancco buys Tabernus, what does that mean and the challenges ahead
IT Product Evolution and ITAD Sector Outlook
Despite no Contribution from Acquired ITAD Companies, Component and IT Distributors Plan on Spending More on ITAD
Download PDF version | The fourth quarter and the year 2013 ended with good financial results for many companies...