NVIDIA hasn't been able to keep up with the non-stop demand of their GeForce GTX 10 series graphics cards, thanks to cryptocurrency miners across the world gobbling them up for mining.
We reported earlier this month that GTX 10 series pricing was on its way up, with an average of 25% higher pricing according to Mizuho's chief semiconductor analyst. Mizuho reports: "Our checks with the leading GPU and motherboard OEMs indicate SepQ GPU card trends are very strong, with card shipments coming in ~30-50% ahead of flat q/q expectations on strength from cryptocurrency mining. Cryptocurrency demand is driving strength in NVDA's GTX 1060/1070 cards. The GPU/motherboard OEMs also noted GPU pricing was up ~25% in the last six months".
It's not just miners either, but DRAM shortages are going to push us to see a purported decline of GTX 10 series for miners, with China banning cryptocurrencies being a massive driving factor. Mizuho continued: "The OEMs also noted zero inventory of GPUs in the channel and constrained short DRAM supply and pricing also affecting GPU shipments. Coming off a very strong SepQ, there are also expectations in the supply chain that DecQ GPU sales could be muted in pricing and demand on recent cryptocurrency bans and DRAM shortages".
The difficulty of mining Ethereum is rising so rapidly that it will squeeze most miners that don't have hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars out of the Ethereum mining game. But, we should expect some unstable GPU prices until Christmas, unfortunately.
