Shortages on the best graphics cards — and really, any graphics card — as well as other components will persist through the end of the year, which is why GPU vendors are preparing to hike the prices of their products once again. Asus reportedly intends to increase its prices for the second time this year.
Demand for graphics cards is increasing both because gamers want to play the latest titles and because of demand from cryptocurrency miners. Meanwhile, neither AMD nor Nvidia can increase the supply as their partners, TSMC and Samsung Foundry, are busy making other chips. According to DigiTimes, this situation won't change any time soon as production capacities are 100% filled.
Asus already increased GPU pricing earlier this year, citing increasing tariffs. Later, the company admitted that Nvidia had reduced GPU supply in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. MSI followed suit and also raised the MSRPs of its graphics cards in late March.
Asus is reportedly looking to increase its graphics card prices once again, partly because it has to pay extra to source components and partly because demand is so high. Whether or not its industry peers follow their bigger rival remains to be seen, but in a world where companies cannot get chips, they need to increase prices to keep production running.
Asus did not comment on the story and did not confirm any plans concerning prices.
