Why IBM Power is scarce in 2026 — and what Vietnamese enterprises should do about it

In 2026, lead time for a new Power10 system in Southeast Asia has hit 18–26 weeks — three times what it was in 2022. Secondary-market prices for refurbished Power9 climb steadily every quarter. This is not a temporary shortage; it is a structural shift in the enterprise server market.

1. Why Power is scarce while x86 is not

Three compounding reasons:

• Concentrated manufacturing: Power CPUs are designed by IBM and manufactured at Samsung foundries. There is no alternative foundry. When Samsung prioritizes fabs for AI accelerators and mobile SoCs, Power slides to the back of the queue.
• Global BFSI demand surge: After the 2020–2022 refresh deferrals, a wave of banks is forced to upgrade core banking. Power10 is the default choice for financial services — and the orders all hit at once.
• AI on Power: Power10's MMA (Matrix Math Accelerator) lets you run AI inference directly on the core without a GPU. A new capability that expands demand well beyond the traditional buyer base.

2. Impact on Vietnamese enterprises

Banking, insurance, and telco customers in Vietnam — long dependent on Power for core systems — are hitting three concrete problems:

• Lead time longer than the budget year: Order in Q1, receive in Q3 — beyond many organizations' CapEx approval windows.
• Refurbished prices rising: Used Power9 sat at ~30% of list price in 2024. By 2026 it's ~55–65% — replacement demand has overwhelmed supply.
• Parts and maintenance: DDIMs, fans, and PSUs for older Power are being hunted. Some customers buy entire systems just to harvest parts.

3. Quick comparison with the x86 market

x86 from Dell, HPE, and Lenovo runs typical 6–10 week lead times with ±5% quarterly price moves. Supply is plentiful through many channels. This stability tempts CIOs to "temporarily shift workloads to x86". The catch: as analyzed in IBM Power vs x86, moving mission-critical workloads to x86 typically raises 5-year TCO — never mind migration risk.

4. Pragmatic procurement strategy for 2026–2027

Pre-book on a 3-year roadmap

Spot buying is no longer realistic. BFSI organizations should sign framework agreements with authorized suppliers and reserve capacity slots — even before the exact configuration is finalized.

Use the verified secondary market

Refurbished Power9 from official channels (IBM Certified Pre-Owned or authorized partners) still delivers strong TCO for tier-2 and tier-3 workloads. Avoid the gray market: firmware risk, modified hardware, lost warranty.

Scale up (capacity-on-demand) instead of replacing

Power supports activating additional cores and memory by license when needed. Buy a large frame up front and activate gradually — cheaper and faster than buying a new system in two years.

Deliberate hybrid architecture

Keep core OLTP and the main database on Power. Push reporting, analytics, dev/test, and microservices to x86. This isn't a "compromise" — it's the right architecture per workload, and it reduces Power procurement pressure.

5. The next 12 months

• New Power10 lead times unlikely to drop below 14 weeks before Q4 2026.
• Refurbished prices keep climbing 8–12% per year until IBM releases Power11 (expected late 2026 / early 2027).
• Maintenance and parts for Power8/9 will be the battleground — organizations with long-term contracts through authorized suppliers win.

Conclusion

Power scarcity isn't bad news — it's an opportunity for organizations that plan early. With DigiWorkHub as an authorized IBM deployment and maintenance partner in Vietnam, the supply problem becomes manageable. For organizations that wait until the last minute, 2026 will be a hard year.