Buying a graphics card at moderate prices has been an impossible mission in the last year due to lack of stock and an insane cost that has doubled (and tripled in some models) the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for the retail channel or MSPR. Now, good news arrives twice.
The COVID pandemic forced the closure of chip production plants and the greater infrastructure needs for teleworking and home study put pressure on the channel. Inventory levels fell rapidly as transportation and distribution costs increased. A perfect storm that affected all technology and saw how prices skyrocketed. In the graphics segment it was even worse due to the demand of the insatiable cryptominers and a degree of mafia speculation that was not remembered.
Buying a graphics card will be cheaper
The last three months have seen a clear downward trend. Prices are still high, but not crazy. The increase in chip production has been noted and the retail supply is slowly increasing. Intel’s return to the dedicated segment should also be a shock.
The latest data coming to us from 3D Center leave positive notes. It uses data from large European retailers such as Mindfactory, Caseking, Computeruniverse and others, and although it focuses on the German and Austrian market, it can be extrapolated to Spain and other countries.
The outlet uses sales data for the industry’s leading series, NVIDIA’s GeForce 3000 and AMD’s Radeon RX 6000. The prices of these cards have continued to fall and according to the data they will close in March only 25% above that set by the manufacturers in the MSRP.
The data is the average for the sector and some specific models are still higher, but it is positive news considering where we come from. In standard market situations the final sale price should be at most the MSRP. The trend is back to ‘normal’. Buying a graphics card should be cheaper in the coming months.
ASUS lowers prices
One of the leading producers of dedicated graphics cards has announced a discount of 25% on the list price of their models. This is due to a “lifting of tariffs on Chinese imports by the Office of the United States Trade Representative”.
It was a tax imposed by President Trump that is now being lifted. ASUS says consumers will see lower prices “as of April 1, 2022” and the lowering will come “to different models during the spring.”
It is not directly related to what we were talking about above, but taking into account the great presence of ASUS in the graphics segment, the price reduction should be transferred to the consumer and surely force the rest of the big manufacturers to adjust their own retail prices downwards.
