Woofun AI reports that semiconductor and AI research firm SemiAnalysis has disclosed a structural shift in chip economics, where surging artificial intelligence demand is outpacing the cost reduction benefits historically provided by Moore's Law. While computer and semiconductor import prices declined by 52% between 2001 and 2020 due to technological efficiencies, May data reveals a 3.6% price increase, representing a 14.4% year-on-year rise that defies long-term downward trends.

These import prices are hedonically adjusted to account for improvements in chip speed and capacity, indicating that the market is paying a premium for each unit of computing power rather than merely for enhanced hardware specifications. This pricing pressure stems from genuine supply constraints rather than tariff surcharges, as the calculations reflect pre-tariff baseline prices, signaling a fundamental inversion in the cost structure of global compute infrastructure.