Power Electronics News: Chips & Supply (Nov 3, 2026)

Top story

The biggest electronics story circulating on November 2, 2026 is about where the money goes. According to Sourceability, AI infrastructure growth is reshaping investment in power semiconductors. Gallium nitride (GaN) is gaining because AI data centers need more sophisticated power delivery, and Infineon and NVIDIA have expanded their GaN collaboration for 800V DC architectures. Silicon carbide (SiC), which drew heavy investment during the EV boom, is under pressure from weaker EV demand, as LX Semicon's exit illustrates. Sourceability expects demand to diverge: suppliers tied to slower-growing markets may keep restructuring, while companies in AI infrastructure could see stronger demand and tougher competition for production capacity. This matters because power chips are quiet building blocks in nearly every device category, so a shift in where chipmakers put their capital can eventually affect other segments of the supply chain.

Components and chips

Electronic Products & Technology (EP&T) covered its 2027 Canadian Electronics Industry Report on November 2, 2026. Access to critical components is mostly positive: 56% of respondents rated it good or very good, and 35% called it only fair. Lead times (43%) and pricing volatility (33%) are the main pain points. Memory, multilayer ceramic capacitors and power MOSFETs face the most strain, and AI demand is driving up memory costs: some memory prices have reportedly risen tenfold, which hits smaller manufacturers hardest. Pressure is also emerging on bare printed circuit boards and materials such as prepreg, so the exposure extends beyond semiconductors. For engineers and buyers, easier access to parts does not mean the risk of disruption has gone away.

Industry

Machine-vision company Cognex was due to report third-quarter results on November 4, 2026. A preview published on TradingView on November 2 said its semiconductor-related business had likely benefited from continued AI infrastructure investment, driving demand for inspection, traceability and barcode-reading solutions, helped by its ties to semiconductor equipment makers and the optics and lighting portfolio from Moritex. The preview cited a consensus of about $311.8 million in revenue and company guidance of $300-320 million. Cognex has since reported: its quarterly filing shows revenue of about $313.4 million for the quarter ended October 4, up 13% from a year earlier and inside the guided range.

Why this matters for electronics buyers

These stories connect around one theme: the chips and power components inside consumer electronics, test equipment and industrial sensing gear are being shaped right now by AI-driven investment decisions, memory cost pressure, and supply-chain risk that has not fully disappeared even where parts have become easier to find. Anyone buying or specifying components should expect this uneven picture to continue in the near term, with power semiconductors and memory as the parts most likely to see continued attention and cost movement.