MSI Cargo Containers Chock-Full of RTX 3090 Graphics Cards Allegedly Stolen, $336,500 Value at MSRP

[Raevenlord]

Now this is the first one such article I've ever written, which goes to show just how strange and crazy this pandemic time is. MSI has allegedly been the victim of a well-coordinated theft that managed to divert no less than 40 cargo units holding NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards from one of MSI's manufacturing sites in China. These cargo units aren't freight containers, to be clear; they're the sealed cardboard boxes with a manufacturers' seal that are shipped to retailers, with each cargo unit containing (usually) between five and six cards.

The cards are being valued at 2.2 Million Yuan, which is roughly $336,500 in US dollars, when priced at MSRP. That amounts to roughly 224 RTX 3090 GPUs. Of course, these cards will be much more valuable in the black market, since actual availability of the cards in the retail space is so constrained. MSI is offering a reward of 100 thousand Yuan for any information that leads to the recovery of the stolen cargo.



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[Vya Domus]

So about 10 cards then ?

It's a joke.

 

[laszlo]

in the end they'll catch the owners who'll eventually register the cards...

 

[GreiverBlade]

So about 10 cards then ?

It's a joke.

that post made my day thanks


also ... stolen? by the manufacturer? for miners? so the general public is not butthurt? "oh my god our stolen cards ended in a mining farm by accident after the heist!"

in the end they'll catch the owners who'll eventually register the cards...

not if they are accomplices ... see above


(joking obviously.... or am i? )

 

[Indurain]

If it was truly only around 225 cards that would not have taken up an entire cargo container, MSI may not have even been the target, just an unfortunate victim. There is no real context but a lot of assumptions in the article. It would have been better if the assumed reasons for the theft were not in the article or it be listed as assumptions.

And the original ARS article is confusing, since they floated the idea that it was 40 cargo containers and if you put cases of cards numbering 224 in 40 containers that is only about 6 cards per container. The assumption is that the 2 million + Yuan is the retail value although it might be the insured value instead and the number of actual cards is higher. Unless of course MSI doesn't insure their shipments.

Also wasn't it MSI that got caught scalping their own customers

 

[isvelte]

Probably made up story so they can scalp their own cards again.

 

[bonehead123]

If it was truly only around 225 cards that would not have taken up an entire cargo container, MSI may not have even been the target, just an unfortunate victim. There is no real context but a lot of assumptions in the article. It would have been better if the assumed reasons for the theft were not in the article or it be listed as assumptions.

^^EXACTLY^^

At 1 time in the distant past, I had ~100-110 gpu's in their original boxes in my garage, and they all fit on one of those 6 shelf (consumer-style) metal storage racks, so I can confirm the above statement.

Granted I realize gpu boxes are somewhat larger these days to accomodate the larger cards, but still....I think 225 of them would only require 1-1.5 more racks....

This sounds ALOT like the plant fires/outtages etc, posing as a corporate conspiracy-laden reason to drastically jack up prices even moar that they already are.....

So,,, if Ngreedia had made a sufficient supply of these cards prior to release, when would not even be having this discussion.......

 

[Indurain]

I think the press release suffers from language differences, I bet the 40 'containers' are likely 40 cases (cardboard boxes) with some number of cards in them, and assuming the cards are valued at retail is faulty. MSI doesn't charge retail prices to the channel, else no one would sell MSI cards.

 

[ratirt]

All this nonsense with the graphics cards and availability is pathetic in my eyes. Now people are stealing cards which are nowhere to be found. What else is going to be in the 2020 news feeds?

 

[Paganstomp]

Looks like Best Buy is out of luck.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

maybe MSI should stop doing business in China? They have more pirates than... whats that place in Africa?

It's a joke too!

 

[Chaitanya]

in the end they'll catch the owners who'll eventually register the cards...

Buying stolen goods is a crime so it will be good if MSI does go behind the theives who end up buying these cards.

 

[rockyrok]

Is this Karma maybe?

 

[Xaled]

As long as this comes from MSI, ill take my time until I believe it

 

[Chrispy_]

I read an article this morning about PS5's being stolen from moving trucks in what's termed as a "rollover raid", 2Fast2Furious style.

Idiots willing to pay scalper rates are what's fuelling this madness.

maybe MSI should stop doing business in China? They have more pirates than... whats that place in Africa?

Africa. All of it! Joking aside, the single most civilised part of the African continent is still basically the Wild West that makes the roughest parts of Brownsville or East Harlem look safe and well-policed. It's corruption-central all the way to the top with added layers of racial hatred that far exceed anything in the massively-racist US.

 

[delshay]

in the end they'll catch the owners who'll eventually register the cards...

I would think they would have already found a way around that problem -if they went to great length to steal them in the first place. I don't even think they can even connect them to the internet without giving the ID away, so i would expect they will be modded slightly in hardware/software before being used.

 

[Turmania]

altough I usually by MSI stuff, they have been doing things rather unethically for the last few years, I believe it is karma.

 

[metalslaw]

MSI? yep.

 

[fynxer]

Will keep an eye out and see if anything pops up here in Sweden.

Or MSI just used them in their new line of Gaming PC Desktops they just released last week and need an excuse to all retailer why they where not getting any 3090 cards.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Ah, this brings back memories, to 2003 to be more specific.
The MSI warehouse in the UK was broken into and all their GeForce FX 5800 Ultra cards were stolen.
Also claimed to have been an insider job.

 

[Moofachuka]

MSI has worsened ever since their CEO died...

 

[mouacyk]

Should have known... that dragon symbol, it's Yakuza.

 

[Flanker]

 

[TheLostSwede]

MSI has worsened ever since their CEO died...

Eh? Have you actually worked for MSI? I have and nothing has really changed.

 

[moob]

And the original ARS article is confusing, since they floated the idea that it was 40 cargo containers and if you put cases of cards numbering 224 in 40 containers that is only about 6 cards per container.

I think the press release suffers from language differences, I bet the 40 'containers' are likely 40 cases (cardboard boxes) with some number of cards in them, and assuming the cards are valued at retail is faulty. MSI doesn't charge retail prices to the channel, else no one would sell MSI cards.

Ars didn't say "cargo containers," just "containers." If you read the comments Salter says the direct translation was "crates" but he went with "container" since it's a broader term (also considered cases). You're right though, in that, according to another commenter who says that they're a translator, the translation would be "paper box" so they're probably just cardboard boxes.