According to a report from DigiTimes, graphics card supply is expected to remain tight for the rest of the year, with all major board partners including MSI, Gigabyte, and ASUS planning further price hikes in the coming months. Apart from disruptions in the supply chain, the rising price of Ether and other alternate cryptocurrencies have largely contributed to the shortages.
Usually, the last and first quarter of every year sees a drop in graphics card and computer hardware sales, but a combination of the pandemic, increased demand, and the mining boom have significantly buoyed graphics card sales, resulting in all-time high revenues for multiple companies. Lately, retailers have been pairing graphics cards with motherboards, CPUs, and memory modules, bolstering sales across the board. This has resulted in a record revenue outlook for MSI, Gigabyte, and ASUS.
NVIDIA is expecting an all-time high revenue from its gaming business in the first quarter of 2021. Record sales of the RTX 30 series graphics cards, increased demand from miners and the re-introduction of the CMP lineup are some of the primary drivers behind the exponential growth.
Gigabyte’s profits soared by as much as 125% to $153.29 million USD in 2020, and the trend is expected to continue in 2021 as well. The company is expecting a record growth in sequential sales in the first quarter of 2021, with clear visibility for the second quarter.
ASUS which was the first AIB partner to raise graphics card prices is planning to introduce a second wave of price hikes in the coming months, albeit by a relatively smaller percentage as the supply continues to fall short across the globe.
