The Asian market is seeing a surge in demand for Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards. This has led to higher prices and scarcity. Buyers in Taiwan and South Korea are paying high amounts for the cards and then reselling them in China and Hong Kong at inflated prices. Despite export restrictions and bans, middlemen are making profits from this reselling trend.
To deal with the high demand, retailers in Taipei’s Guanghua market are now selling the GeForce RTX 4090 cards as part of complete gaming systems. This ensures that buyers commit to buying the whole setup, helping retailers manage the limited supply. However, this leaves consumers who only need the graphics card itself with no other options.
The scarcity of the GeForce RTX 4090 cards has pushed some buyers to extreme measures. Some individuals are buying over 20 complete desktop computers just to extract the graphics cards. This shows how far consumers are willing to go to get these high-performance GPUs.
The situation is made more complicated by US export restrictions, which forbid shipping GeForce RTX 4090 cards to China and other countries. This has unintentionally contributed to the reselling phenomenon, as buyers now have to rely on intermediaries to legally obtain the cards.
The reselling trend is not limited to China and Hong Kong. Similar phenomena have emerged in Singapore and Vietnam, where demand for GeForce RTX 4090 cards has also raised prices. The scarcity and high demand have created an environment where buyers are confident they can make significant profits from selling the graphics cards.
Despite the bans and export restrictions, buyers are taking the risk of carrying the GeForce RTX 4090 cards to Hong Kong or other Chinese cities, where they can fetch higher prices. These risky endeavors have made the process of legally obtaining these GPUs even more dangerous.
The price increases and scarcity of the GeForce RTX 4090 cards are due to the high demand for their exceptional gaming and AI performance. The suggested retail price of $1,599 is now a distant memory, as prices in some Asian countries have increased by up to 60%. These high prices reflect the market’s strong desire for cutting-edge technology and the limited supply available.
The reselling phenomenon surrounding Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 cards shows the extreme measures individuals are willing to take to get these highly sought-after graphics cards. The scarcity and price increases have forced buyers and retailers to use innovative strategies, like selling the cards as part of complete gaming systems, to manage the overwhelming demand. However, export restrictions and bans have made it difficult to access the GPUs legally, leading to the growth of a black market.
As the market continues to struggle with scarcity and inflated prices, the question remains: how long will this reselling phenomenon last? In the meantime, buyers and retailers must navigate the challenging Asian market, where obtaining Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 cards legally has become a difficult and expensive process.