NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series of "Blackwell" GPUs are set to launch at the tail end of this month, but market conditions are not looking favorable for day one customers. Recent news articles have highlighted alleged regional supply issues, and industry insiders believe that it will be very difficult to obtain the two higher-end models (RTX 5090 and RTX 5080). Monday's report posited that delays could result in stock not turning up until a month after Team Green's official kick-off on January 31. VideoCardz has pointed to a root cause; Team Green's alleged late issuing of finalized BIOSes—board partners were reportedly not able to prepare stock until very late in 2024.

Unfortunately, further disappointing disclosures have trickled out mid-week—PowerGPU's social media account sent out a stern warning: "the launch of the RTX 5090 will be the worst when it comes to availability. Already being told to expect it to be that way for the first three months." Benchlife piled on with more bad news—their report suggests that problems will emerge further down in Team Green's "Blackwell" product stack: "we can confirm that there are not many supplies on the market. This is mainly due to some communication issues between NVIDIA and AIC partners, as well as the Spring Festival Factors are expected to improve in February. In addition, we expect to see the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti starting to appear on the channel in mid-to-late February. As for the $549 GeForce RTX 5070, we may have to wait until early March."Twelve days ago (!), ZOTAC's South Korean branch released a notice on tagtag.co.kr—regarding "RTX 5090 sales schedule information." This official statement only mentions a single unnamed SKU being readied for the region—possibly the SOLID, SOLID OC, or AMP Extreme INFINITY model. The message reads as follows: "we've recently received a lot of inquiries regarding the availability dates of the RTX 50 Series, so we wanted to update you on the timeline. ZOTAC Korea's RTX 5090 model is expected to be in stock in February. We would like to warn you that sales and deliveries will be difficult on January 30, the currently known date for the start of sales. The RTX 5090 is expected to be in stock and on sale in early February. Please understand that the timing may vary depending on external factors, so availability may be delayed until mid-February. The arrival schedule of the RTX 5080 model is currently being confirmed. We will inform you again as soon as possible."

Anti-scalping measures have been highlighted by France's Hardware & Co.. They report that the nation's LDLC hardware store will be re-deploying its "usual" anti-abuse system: "only one card authorized per customer account. This is valid for both the RTX 5090 and the RTX 5080 listed by the reseller. And when it does this, it is generally because a shortage is looming...it therefore seems relatively inevitable that our dear stores will not magically transform into angels of benevolence, and that if the opportunity arises for them to make a few extra bucks by increasing their prices on the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, they will not hesitate to indulge themselves. We have all been warned!"In addition, the Hardware & Co. article points to even more extreme measures—Taiwan's AutoBuy has posted an advert that sets strict rules for potential buyers of GeForce RTX 5080 GPUs. Customers will be added to a waiting list upon the purchase of an Intel Core Ultra 200S processor, a Z890 motherboard, DDR5 memory, SSD, an (at a minimum) 850 W PSU, a PC case and a Windows OS license.