Some GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards have been spotted sitting on store shelves a day after their release as consumers may be rejecting their price points. In a shocking occurrence, people have posted images showing the latest NVIDIA release still in stock at multiple retail outlets. What is even more surprising is that it’s not just a few cards but seemingly fully stocked shelves and mountainous display piles that are pictured.
Another Nvidia RTX 4080 inventory pile pic.twitter.com/ITEzCkZ96o
— tae kim 🐀 (@firstadopter) November 17, 2022
From pricing to scalping
NVIDIA’s previous Ampere line of graphics cards were largely sold out since their launch but that could easily be attributed to the mining craze of recent years, relentless scalping, and supply chain issues during the pandemic. Once the mining craze ended and the RTX 40 sereies launch neared, inventory for Ampere cards became more available and prices dropped closer to MSRP.
However, a unique turn of events could be in play that is influencing consumers to hold off on purchasing the latest card. Pricing for the GeForce RTX 4080 starts at $1,199 for the Founders Edition with AIB custom cards going for $1,599. According to WccfTech, these prices represent a nearly 50% price increase for the xx80 line over the previous Ampere version that launched at $699 and then $899 for the 12 GB version. Factor in that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition starts at $1,599 and many would question why not just buy it instead, except that it has been sold out since shortly after launch.
Another factor includes, once again, online scalping for the GeForce RTX 4080. NewEgg may be sold out with its manufacturer distributors but it hasn’t stopped other sellers from trying to move some GeForce RTX 4080 at prices just shy of $3,000 (one seller is still trying to unload a refurbished RTX 3080 for the same price point in the image below).
A potential competitor and lower shipped units
It is also probable that some consumers are awaiting the launch of AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics cards which could potentially trade blows with the GeForce RTX 4080, but for a much lower price of $899. Many could simply be awaiting reviews to be posted showing the performance differences between them. The last bit of info is that NVIDIA is rumored to have only shipped out around 30,000 units for the GeForce RTX 4080 vs the 125,000 (according to Gamer’s Nexus) of the GeForce RTX 4090, which again is still sold out. Despite the lower supply, and generational improvements, 4080 cards are reportedly still sitting on shelves as of yesterday.
NVIDIA 4080 shipment units:
— Hassan Mujtaba (@hms1193) November 19, 2022
🟢30,000
NVIDIA 4090 shipment units:
🟢130,000
Total RTX 40 shipment units:
🟢160,000
NVIDIA's 4090 was pretty much sold out at launch.
Retailers still have 4080 in stock. 😶🌫️😶🌫️
Discussion (19 replies)
Join Discussion →"shocking"
/s
That was an interesting reading.
It seems that your logic is sound. If I'm asked to pay 1399 for a middle stack 4080, why not just wait a bit and buy the 4090 when it comes back into stock?
I hope that AMD sticks to it's pricing and the performance is competative, that may have some push for nvidia to lower the 4080 prices.
Yeah, I imagine the top brass at NV really thought people would pay anything after what happened with Ampere. Meanwhile, I can totally envision a sales rep somewhere doing a facepalm with this.
What I'm also curious about is what this will do to the pricing for the entire product stack under the 4080. The ramifications are pretty big considering we're probably seeing at least 3-5 more card launches below it. I expect some interesting price wars in the next 90 days.
So, question.
Do you think the 4080 would have been better received as-is: current performance and price, if the 4090 had an even higher MSRP than it currently does?
My opinion: had nVidia prices the 4090 at $1,999: they would have still sold almost the same number of 4090s as they have at the current price, and we would still be grumbling about how prices have went up, but 4080s would also be flying off the shelves because they would look like a great deal compared to a much higher priced 4090.
I thought about it too and I'm not sure. I agree that if they'd priced the 4090 at $2K it still would've sold, and probably cut into scalper's profits, but I'm not sure if that would've made the difference for a $1599 4080 but it might've considering it's on par with a 3090 Ti that sold for about the same. Meanwhile, the AMD $899 threat would still be there and AMD now has multiple gens where it's top tier cards can compete favorably with NV's previous flagship cards which is where the 4080 is at (sans DLSS still).
Price is going to stay high so long as there is sufficient 3000-series stock - and so long as they have no pricing pressure.
Yes, AMD's new GPUs will likely result in fewer Nvidia GPUs being sold, and that should then result in price adjustments for released Nvidia GPUs. But this all depends on what margins Nvidia is willing to sell at.
Ought to make NV's next investor call more interesting. ;)
Nobody in their right mind is buying the 4080 with the 7900XTX right around the corner.
Nvidia priced out a great deal of people and at the price points they are at , the people that would buy, will buy the top end at these differences. Perhaps if top dog was 3000$ it would be enough to for even someone with a fair amount of disposable income to have some pause.
This is why AMD targets 1000 and under, though I am sure board partners will screw things, under 1000$ is different price mentality, and consumer. I wouldn't touch a 4080, its just worthless compared to the 4090, if I was at that price point with that bit of disposable income (I am not, would have been pre inflation, made budget and everything... Just getting crushed here)
If I didn't have a 3080 12GB, I'd consider it. I wouldn't consider it a 'smart' purchase, but Nvidia still does have significant advantages in ray tracing performance as well as DLSS 2.x, where implemented well.
That doesn't mean that the RX7000-series won't be competitive as it entirely depends on which games you play with what performance expectations, including resolution, visual fidelity, and framerate one is after. Just means that despite AMD's impending release, Nvidia's pricing isn't crazy. It's just unpalatable, IMO ;)
I don't think an X080-level card should be more than $700.
Is Nvidia targeting consumers in their right mind?
Just checked my local microcenter - there are at least 50 4080s in stock. I have a 3080ti though, and I can’t really justify spending 1200+ for a 4080. At that price, I’ll just wait for the 4090s to come back in stock
Great way to incentivize people to buy up the remaining 3080-3090 stock. I'm curious to see what the BF/Xmas sales prices will be on Ampere. So far the best deal seems to be the 6600/6650XT or 6800XT cards from AMD. The best from Nvidia is the 3060 12GB with a free copy of Darktide for $349.