ASUS Expects GPU Prices To Take Time To Normalize Despite Dwindling Crypto Demand
In their latest earnings report, ASUS’s Co-CEO, Sy Hsu, stated that GPU demand within the crypto segment is drying but whether prices will normalize depends on the overall demand and not just the crypto variable. GPU prices saw a huge price hike of over 3x during the peak mining season but 2022 started off with crypto demand going down due to lower profit margins and the increase in difficulty. All of this has resulted in GPU prices and availability improving by a huge margin. As of right now, the NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon graphics cards are available on almost all major retail outlets and with prices hovering around 5-10% over MSRP (on average). Prices are further expected to come down with the Ethereum 2.0 update which should essentially phase out GPU mining but it looks like ASUS believes that the crypto correction may have a little impact on the prices. “Because the demand from cryptocurrency is disappearing, it’s made us wonder if the pricing for GPUs will also normalize,” Hsu said. “In reality, the demand for gaming is still strong, so we still don’t think we can necessarily meet all of the demand.” ASUS Earnings Calls via PCMag As seen from the statement above, ASUS states that price normalization may not happen soon since GPU demand in the gaming industry still remains strong. While this is true, there are many examples of new cards being listed at prices below the MSRP. We recently saw the 6900 XT on Newegg listed for a price lower than its MSRP. There are also several cards that are available at MSRP but there are certain markets that still aren’t correcting their prices since they bought their stock at the inflated rates. ASUS was one of the many companies that profited off the GPU mining craze so they might take time to adjust to the new norm but for now, even getting cards at their MSRP is a big win for gamers who had waited almost two years for a new graphics card.
