In late July, a surge in graphics card prices occurred at the major electronic product distribution center in Shenzhen, mainland China. The RTX 5090 series saw an increase of nearly 4000 yuan, while the RTX 5070 rose by about 1000 yuan. Some merchants have expressed that the prices have become too high that they are hesitant to continue restocking.
According to a report from “Time Weekly,” the price of the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB graphics card at Huaqiangbei has risen to between 3400 yuan and 3500 yuan, an increase of approximately 700 yuan compared to a week ago.
The RTX 5070 has seen a price increase from around 5000 yuan to 6000 yuan, while the RTX 5090 series has jumped from about 30,200 yuan to 34,000 yuan in just a week, marking an increase of nearly 4000 yuan.
Many merchants have stated that this round of price increases began on July 23. A graphics card wholesaler mentioned that several brand factories have already stopped bulk shipments and stockpiled their inventory. With the dwindling supply of goods, channel sellers are hoarding their stock and being cautious in selling, resulting in shortages for certain models.
The rapid price surge has also deterred merchants from purchasing new inventory. Zhang Jing, a graphics card merchant, mentioned that she is currently only selling the stock on hand and is not planning to restock with new goods for now. “It’s too expensive. Nowadays, just putting together a computer costs over ten thousand yuan. Who can afford that?”
A computer assembly merchant stated that the flow of student customers seeking to purchase assembled machines before the summer vacation has decreased by one-third to two-thirds this year. While customers still come to inquire about prices, they are usually hesitant to make immediate purchases after comparing with the prices from the previous year.
On July 24, Caixin Media reported, citing hardware media BenchLife, that NVIDIA has issued a new round of GPU kit price hike notices to downstream graphics card manufacturers. The kit includes the GPU (graphics processing unit) and memory chips, involving both GDDR7 and GDDR6 memory. This news has not been officially confirmed by NVIDIA.
Zhang Xiaorong, the director of the Institute of Deep Technology Research, mentioned that new production capacity will not be fully available until after 2027, and under cost pressures, graphics card prices are likely to remain high in the short term with limited potential for decreases.
AI expert Guo Tao stated that the increase in memory prices will raise the cost of graphics cards, but the final retail prices are also influenced by GPU supply, market demand, and channel inventory. The current stocking and cautious selling behavior by channel sellers further exacerbate the price surge.