Japan Experiencing NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Shortages

[T0@st]

Japan's ITmedia has recently conducted an in-person survey of PC hardware buying trends in the areas of graphics cards, DDR5 memory and gaming keyboards—a PC USER investigative journalist headed over to Akihabara Electric Town district in Tokyo, where they spoke to shop clerks working at various retail stores. Western media outlets have focused on the segment that focused on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards—models based on the RTX 4080 GPU are said to be the least popular option with the buying public. One interviewee stated: "Due to the issue of overlap, fewer people are choosing RTX 4080 cards. Many opt for RTX 4070 Ti if they seek high-end performance, and for ultra-high-end, they go up to RTX 4090. Therefore, we deliberately limit our stock (of the RTX 4080)."

A staff member of PC Workshop's Akihabara Store said: "It might be a little short in supply globally...The demand for RTX 4090 has been constant, but it's becoming a bit difficult to get in stock...It seems like there is a worldwide supply shortage. This may be due to reflection on the RTX 3000 family and to avoid overstocking the market." Parts of the PC hardware community believe that NVIDIA is prioritizing the manufacture of AI GPUs over high-end gaming chips, but it is too early to tell whether this is impacting global markets right now. Another store assistant added: "The models priced in the 250,000 yen (~$1665) range are still on backorder." ITmedia observed that the showcase shelves/cabinets for RTX 4090 models in this particular store had noticeable gaps. A rival shop is reported to be gambling on a larger stockpile of RTX 4080 cards, in anticipation of their flashiest customers opting for the second best Ada Lovelace GPU in the event of minimal RTX 4090 replenishments.



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[Space Lynx]

they gonna be on backorder for a long time considering Nvidia is getting insane profit margins on AI, as jayz2cents predicted awhile ago and i made a post about

Potential graphics card shortage incoming... interesting idea. A.I. demand taking up TSMC space.

jayz2cents just posted this, it felt a bit overdramatic to me at first, but then when he showed the picture of like 20 7900 XTX's stacked behind this new AI farm... got me thinking... and as he mentions in the video, profit margins on a AI silicon from TSMC are like 60 grand versus the paltry...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[bonehead123]

"Shortage" ???

Is it Real or artificially created.... to jack up the prices overall.....

Seems like a page from the "factory flood, fire, power outage etc" playbook to me

 

[Space Lynx]

"Shortage" ???

Is it Real or artificially created.... to jack up the prices overall.....

Seems like a page from the "factory flood, fire, power outage etc" playbook to me

why would you waste node time on anything other than AI chips when AI cards are netting you like 50k profit a pop? demand is insane for AI dedicated cards right now, Nvidia would be dumb as bricks to use any node time on gaming chips when they could use it for AI chips

every company out there is lining up for AI

 

[Deleted member 185088]

You can still get them "easily" online.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I've noticed as of late they have been consistently sold out on Bestbuy

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?id=pcat17071&qp=category_facet%3DComputer%20Cards%20%26%20Components~abcat0507000&st=rtx+4090

Newegg has had decent stock although models do sell out here and there.

At least half the models are out of stock or on pre order which is surprising considering it is a 1600+ gpu so likely Nvidia is throttling shipments.

NVIDIA RTX 4090 Series In Stock Tracker - NowInStock.net

Looking for NVIDIA RTX 4090 Series but having no luck? Maybe our FREE NVIDIA RTX 4090 Series In Stock Tracker can help!

www.nowinstock.net

 

[thesmokingman]

Omg this is so sad!

 

[redeye]

So could it be that chips that were going to 4090 are now going to the 4090ti… for double the price…

or is the ASUS matrix 3200 dollar 4090ti sold out too…

 

[Avro Arrow]

Let me get this straight... More than a year after its release, Japan is only now seeing a shortage of RTX 4090 cards?

Fact is definitely funnier than fiction in this case.

 

[AnotherReader]

So could it be that chips that were going to 4090 are now going to the 4090ti… for double the price…

or is the ASUS matrix 3200 dollar 4090ti sold out too…

There will be no 4090 Ti. If the shortage is due to supply, then the 4090 is likely to be a victim of increased orders for the GH100.

 

[Avro Arrow]

they gonna be on backorder for a long time considering Nvidia is getting insane profit margins on AI, as jayz2cents predicted awhile ago and i made a post about

Potential graphics card shortage incoming... interesting idea. A.I. demand taking up TSMC space.

jayz2cents just posted this, it felt a bit overdramatic to me at first, but then when he showed the picture of like 20 7900 XTX's stacked behind this new AI farm... got me thinking... and as he mentions in the video, profit margins on a AI silicon from TSMC are like 60 grand versus the paltry...

www.techpowerup.com

Yup, that video from Jay is one of the reasons that I bought my RX 7900 XTX. I realised that this GPU shortage will be the worst ever and will last far longer than the mining craze because demand for AI won't just suddenly cease one day. I figured that I'd be able to ride out the storm as much as possible with a 24GB card.

"Shortage" ???

Is it Real or artificially created.... to jack up the prices overall.....

Seems like a page from the "factory flood, fire, power outage etc" playbook to me

I don't think that it's artificially-created. If a company can make 100x more profit using their fab allocations for AI chips, why would they make GPUs instead? Artificially-created scarcity is like what DeBeers does with diamonds.

why would you waste node time on anything other than AI chips when AI cards are netting you like 50k profit a pop? demand is insane for AI dedicated cards right now, Nvidia would be dumb as bricks to use any node time on gaming chips when they could use it for AI chips

every company out there is lining up for AI

Absolutely. I don't blame them one bit.

I've noticed as of late they have been consistently sold out on Bestbuy

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?id=pcat17071&qp=category_facet%3DComputer%20Cards%20%26%20Components~abcat0507000&st=rtx+4090

Newegg has had decent stock although models do sell out here and there.

At least half the models are out of stock or on pre order which is surprising considering it is a 1600+ gpu so likely Nvidia is throttling shipments.

NVIDIA RTX 4090 Series In Stock Tracker - NowInStock.net

Looking for NVIDIA RTX 4090 Series but having no luck? Maybe our FREE NVIDIA RTX 4090 Series In Stock Tracker can help!

www.nowinstock.net

As long as it's not the scalpers with their paws on them, I'm ok with this.

Omg this is so sad!

Sarcasm like that always makes me

So could it be that chips that were going to 4090 are now going to the 4090ti… for double the price…

or is the ASUS matrix 3200 dollar 4090ti sold out too…

Well, if they're only interested in RTX 4090s or 4080s, then they're the kind of brand-whores that nVidia loves to capitalise on and I have no sympathy for them.

 

[stimpy88]

More fake news for nGreedia to maintain or jack up their prices. They did announce months ago that they had cut production due to low demand.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I wanted to write oh poor Japan... but then thought it kinda contradicts

 

[Vayra86]

More fake news for nGreedia to maintain or jack up their prices. They did announce months ago that they had cut production due to low demand.

Exactly, isn't it still inflation time? Let's wake up here

All the money landed at corporate by now, they're buying shit, we're not, what's new.

Heck it even is quoted in the article as a likely cause. The AI demand is pure speculation.

 

[mechtech]

Rich people problems?? Not enough 4090s!?!?!

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Exactly, isn't it still inflation time? Let's wake up here

All the money landed at corporate by now, they're buying shit, we're not, what's new.

Heck it even is quoted in the article as a likely cause. The AI demand is pure speculation.

New earnings report should be out soon it'll be interesting how the gaming segment is doing last quarter for Nvidia it was doing ok saved by astronomical prices but for AMD basically they are being saved by consoles.

Honestly looked pretty grim for the discrete gpu market as a whole though.

 

[Darksword]

My only thought is...

 

[Minus Infinity]

"Shortage" ???

Is it Real or artificially created.... to jack up the prices overall.....

Seems like a page from the "factory flood, fire, power outage etc" playbook to me

Tom at MLisD reported a month ago that Nvidia is slashing high end RTX40 production rather than enter price war with AMD and using all capacity for AI.

 

[Avro Arrow]

More fake news for nGreedia to maintain or jack up their prices. They did announce months ago that they had cut production due to low demand.

Yeah, that's nothing new. Back in oh-eight, I tried a little something to avoid nGreedia's pricing:

It worked so well that I've been able to completely ignore nGreedia's pricing over the past fifteen years:

The 8500 GT was the last GeForce card I bought for gaming. The 8400 GS I only bought because it was a PCI card and I could use it for diagnostics (it was also in a bargain bin for like $30).

The best way to not care about the price of GeForce cards is simply not to buy them. Whooda thunkit?

 

[AnotherReader]

Yeah, that's nothing new. Back in oh-eight, I tried a little something to avoid nGreedia's pricing:

It worked so well that I've been able to completely ignore nGreedia's pricing over the past fifteen years:

The 8500 GT was the last GeForce card I bought for gaming. The 8400 GS I only bought because it was a PCI card and I could use it for diagnostics (it was also in a bargain bin for like $30).

The best way to not care about the price of GeForce cards is simply not to buy them. Whooda thunkit?

Yes, people make excuses for GPUs' high prices, but in 2007, the Geforce 8800 Ultra had a MSRP of $830 which is over US $ 1200 today. This was a GPU made on a mature and inexpensive 90 nm process.

 

[thesmokingman]

Yes, people make excuses for GPUs' high prices, but in 2007, the Geforce 8800 Ultra had a MSRP of $830 which is over US $ 1200 today. This was a GPU made on a mature and inexpensive 90 nm process.

We can see Ngreedia has moved on from gaming and found their next and current stomping ground, AI gpus lol. Cannot beat $3K cost with a $40K msrp.

And ironically it's AMD to the rescue again if they can get their faster AI gpus out soon enough.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

We can see Ngreedia has moved on from gaming and found their next and current stomping ground, AI gpus lol. Cannot beat $3K cost with a $40K msrp.

And ironically it's AMD to the rescue again if they can get their faster AI gpus out soon enough.

I'm interested to see quarter 3 earning report wouldn't be shocked if they are at an 80% profit margin.

 

[Nhonho]

AMD doesn't learn that people want a GPU to play games at 4K.

 

[mechtech]

Yeah, that's nothing new. Back in oh-eight, I tried a little something to avoid nGreedia's pricing:
It worked so well that I've been able to completely ignore nGreedia's pricing over the past fifteen year. The 8500 GT was the last GeForce card I bought for gaming. The 8400 GS I only bought because it was a PCI card and I could use it for diagnostics (it was also in a bargain bin for like $30).

The best way to not care about the price of GeForce cards is simply not to buy them. Whooda thunkit?

Ummmm where is the Avro Arrow Card?

 

[Prima.Vera]

Blatant lies and very faker news!!!
Why this bs article?? You can buy anywhere here in Japan those overpriced cards without any issue.And I'm not talking online store which are usually WAY cheaper and with 1 day delivery:
Amazon JP link here
Rakuten JP link here

Any big retail store I've been recently, such as BicCamera, Yodobashi Camera, Labi, etc, have those in store. The smaller stores in Akihabara (Tokyo), Oosu (Nagoya), etc, most of them also have it, but usually they do not bring more than a couple for the simple reason that those cards DO NOT SELL well in Japan.
The average salary here in Japan, except Tokyo and Yokohama, is almost as the price as this card, so...