Due to an increase in demand and limited supply, prices for several of Nvidia’s GeForce graphics cards are rumored to rise by about 10% in the coming weeks.
The price jump isn’t likely to affect all Nvidia graphics cards, and will instead be dependent on how third-party GPU manufacturers like MSI and ASUS choose to pass the price hike onto consumers. Current reports suggest that entry-level GPUs will be hit, including the RTX 4060, RTX 3050, and GTX 1650. In other words, we don’t have a clear idea of how exactly this will affect consumers right now, but we do expect to see companies up their prices very soon.
According to UDN, a Chinese technology website, manufacturers are "expected to benefit," adding that inflation and geopolitical factors could also impact pricing further soon, and demand for the GPUs will be similar to how it was at the end of the year.
Fond farewell?
AI’s surge in popularity is a very big root cause for the increased demand for GPUs. This puts Nvidia in quite a unique position, in which the company doesn’t focus on its own ChatGPT variant (although it does have in-house AI tools, like Nvidia ACE) but instead provides hardware for training and running all the biggest AI tools on the market right now. So, it does make sense for Nvidia to focus on high-end AI hardware rather than GPUs for gamers.
During last year's GTC keynote, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the company’s new focus on AI, hoping to break into more industries than just the gaming market. "The warp drive engine is accelerated computing, and the energy source is AI,” Huang said during the keynote. “The impressive capabilities of generative AI have created a sense of urgency for companies to reimagine their products and business models."
While it may be bad news for Team Green enthusiasts, it may be good news for AMD and Intel to squeeze into the gap in the market Nvidia will leave behind by shifting focus on AI as they still offer affordable, gaming-focused graphics cards - and hopefully will continue to do so for a long time yet.
