First Batches of NVIDIA RTX 40-series Sitting in Warehouses Since August: Report

[btarunr]

The first batches of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series "Ada" graphics cards were in production since Q2-2022, and have been sitting in warehouses in Taiwan since August, reports Tweaktown. NVIDIA probably decided against launching them sooner, as the crypto-currency crash left it with heaps of unsold high-end RTX 30-series graphics card inventory, forcing it to delay launch of the RTX 40-series, to allow time for the market to digest this inventory. It is now at a point where its retail partners have to clear out high-end SKUs such as the RTX 3080-series and RTX 3090-series at a third the street-price they commanded in the thick of the GPU shortage caused by crypto-mining through 2021; so NVIDIA could start pushing those RTX 40-series cards. The company is widely expected to announce the RTX 40-series later this month. Besides aggressive pricing, NVIDIA has been bundling its high-end RTX 30-series cards with AAA games.



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[Hyderz]

not surprised, if mining didn't go down hill those gpu would have been gone straight to the miners when it launch with a higher msrp than 30 series

 

[Fouquin]

Sounds like they have a minimum order quantity to cover expected inventory requirements for each vendor and building up that inventory takes time. The "PC Master Race" types would shit their brains trying to comprehend how many products are "ready to ship" months ahead of when they actually go on sale.

Also "since August" is as little as 2 weeks ago. Not exactly out of the ordinary.

 

[N3utro]

Who in his/her right mind would buy a RTX 3xxx serie card when 4xxx and 7xxx cards are just around the corner?

 

[ymdhis]

The good news is, since August they managed to build a second batch of the cards, so at launch they'll have twice as many ready for sale than what you see in that picture.

 

[AsRock]

Who in his/her right mind would buy a RTX 3xxx serie card when 4xxx and 7xxx cards are just around the corner?

A lot, the the prices are artificial. If prices were lower on the 30xx series there would not be this issue and they would sell them much faster but they want to keep the price high so the 40xx series don't "seem" as pricey when released.

 

[AusWolf]

This is dirty. Understandable from a business point of view, but still dirty.

 

[wolf]

Delay selling cards as soon as they're ready, so you can build up a good amount of day 1 stock and you get accused of market manipulation to sell old stock. Release as soon as the first cards hit warehouses and you get accused of a paper launch. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

not surprised, if mining didn't go down hill those gpu would have been gone straight to the miners when it launch with a higher msrp than 30 series

Probably was the goal of nVidia.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Delay selling cards as soon as they're ready, so you can build up a good amount of day 1 stock and you get accused of market manipulation to sell old stock. Release as soon as the first cards hit warehouses and you get accused of a paper launch. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

This all depends on what actually gets released on launch day units wise and unfortunately we won't get real numbers to know.

 

[64K]

Who in his/her right mind would buy a RTX 3xxx serie card when 4xxx and 7xxx cards are just around the corner?

Probably gamers that need a card right now and it's uncertain when the entry level to midrange Adas will be released. I don't think we will see those cards until closer to the end of the year and maybe it might be early next year.

Anyone that doesn't need a new card will just wait.

 

[wolf]

This all depends on what actually gets released on launch day units wise and unfortunately we won't get real numbers to know.

And from memory of the previous few gens and what HUB says which I believe is true, new cards will sell out immediately, no matter what, all launch day stock will get sold and they'll be unavailable from minutes to hours after launch.

The more telling aspect is how log that unavailability lasts.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

And from memory of the previous few gens and what HUB says which I believe is true, new cards will sell out immediately, no matter what, all launch day stock will get sold and they'll be unavailable from minutes to hours after launch.

The more telling aspect is how log that unavailability lasts.

For sure, unless the card is $2500-3000 and still sell out instantly then I'm doubtful there was a large amount of units unless mining bounces back big time.

 

[Sithaer]

Who in his/her right mind would buy a RTX 3xxx serie card when 4xxx and 7xxx cards are just around the corner?

I've bought a 3060 Ti a few days ago, second hand market card cause the retail prices are still insane where I live. 'This very same card I bought goes for ~580$ brand new and I paid ~410 for it'
Not interested in the flagship/high end cards only the 60 tier cards and those won't come anytime soon most likely. 'not interested in the higher power draw either'

I've upgraded from a GTX 1070, I was waiting for the second hand prices to drop to a somewhat affordable level since I gave up on our retail market already. 'Don't want to imagine what the 4000 serie wil cost here at launch, yikes..'

 

[Jimmy_]

not surprised, if mining didn't go down hill those gpu would have been gone straight to the miners when it launch with a higher msrp than 30 series

cant agree more !

 

[spnidel]

wait a minute... you trying to tell me... that building up stock takes time?... wtf... I thought they just spawned in like pickups in team fortress 2...

 

[Bwaze]

Who in his/her right mind would buy a RTX 3xxx serie card when 4xxx and 7xxx cards are just around the corner?

"Around the corner" might arrive with a nasty surprise - Nvidia already stated that the initial high end Ada launch is meant to be alongside the Ampere, not replacing it.

So I can imagine RTX 4090 with twice the speed of 3090 Ti demanding twice the price, about $2400, and RTX 4080 for $1400. And if we're lucky, that will be 16GB model, with slower 12GB model below that. But not necessarily.

There is precedense for such Nvidia behaviour - launch of Turing (RTX 2080), with zero price / performance improvement over GTX 1080 Ti, and also on the heels of cryptomania collapse, when everybody expected Nvidia to try to sell as many cards as they can.

And AMD has very little impact on graphics cards landscape. Their production capacity is limited. If they severely undercut Nvidia, it will just mean the scalpers will pick the cards and resell them with profit. And also shareholders will not be satisfied if AMD doesn't maximize their profit.

 

[Metroid]

Nvidia lied to all of you about scarcity, there was never a scarcity. Nvidia intentionally kept their gpus in warehouses so they could sell high.

 

[Bwaze]

Nvidia lied to all of you about scarcity, there was never a scarcity. Nvidia intentionally kept their gpus in warehouses so they could sell high.

That also happened with Pascal cards. There were rumors of vast quantities of higher end GPU processors, made before the cryptocollapse and not sold before the launch of Turing. Lots of speculations what will Nvidia do with them, in the end they just dissapeared. Probably in a landfill, someone calculated that was more profitable.

 

[64K]

Nvidia lied to all of you about scarcity, there was never a scarcity. Nvidia intentionally kept their gpus in warehouses so they could sell high.

Then how to explain the drop in prices when mining collapsed. I don't think Nvidia was sitting on their GPUs to drive the prices up. The opposite took place.

 

[Dsirius]

Delay selling cards as soon as they're ready, so you can build up a good amount of day 1 stock and you get accused of market manipulation to sell old stock. Release as soon as the first cards hit warehouses and you get accused of a paper launch. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

True, though I think that public perception about a company is directly connected with it's reputation, and Nvidia reputation is that of a "milking" consumers, so I guess karma is catching Nvidia fast and Nvidia is reaping what it sows.

 

[Metroid]

Then how to explain the drop in prices when mining collapsed. I don't think Nvidia was sitting on their GPUs to drive the prices up. The opposite took place.

It was not when mining collapsed, it was because the 4xxx series was coming and to this day they have been doing it but funny enough, I'm not seeing nvidia reducing gpu price lower than msrp 3080 and lower, meaning nvidia still want to sell its gpus high and expecting idiots to pay, today is the real mining crash, expect gpus to be very low starting next week or so.

 

[Bwaze]

"Manipulation" is of course normal with such products. Parts for graphic cards are made in large batches at the beginning of their 1- 2 year run. Marketing decides the price, and also the availability on the market - "artificial scarcity" throughout most of the run ensures that even long after the initial "early adopter rush" there still seems to be too little of these cards, buyers are competeing for them, partners and stores can even scalp buyers for months. Especially if there's extra demand, like that from cryptoretards.

 

[chrcoluk]

Who in his/her right mind would buy a RTX 3xxx serie card when 4xxx and 7xxx cards are just around the corner?

End of gen is usually best time to buy as thats when things are usually cheapest and bugs also ironed out.

Not to mention mid range 4000 series is probably not this year.

 

[wolf]

True, though I think that public perception about a company is directly connected with it's reputation, and Nvidia reputation is that of a "milking" consumers, so I guess karma is catching Nvidia fast and Nvidia is reaping what it sows.

Be that as it may, I doubt it bother Nvidia nearly as much as it bothers the vocal crowd of people who dislike them intensely.