Desktop Graphics Card Sales Have Hit Their Lowest Point since 2005

Niner51 said:
We all know that the graphics card market is up beyond what we all would like it to be cost wise. I think what figures in to the sales numbers being low is that everything in the world has gone up in price like groceries, gas, and just the essentials alike. Some of you know I'm in the automotive business and we certainly have seen our numbers go down.
I think more people are going to the used hardware market, or just riding out with what hardware they have in hoping the market comes back to what it was in the past. I know that's my thinking in my job currently, but I'm just not sure when and if that will ever happen.
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Yep, that's pretty much a part of what I was saying as well since even though the #s seem simple and clear, there's a lot more to unpack in understanding all the different factors playing into this.
 
Niner51 said:
I think more people are going to the used hardware market, or just riding out with what hardware they have in hoping the market comes back to what it was in the past. I know that's my thinking in my job currently, but I'm just not sure when and if that will ever happen.
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Yup.

Also, if gas is up - well ****, you still got to get to work. If eggs are up - well ****, you still gotta eat something, and maybe you cut back from the good local microbrew to Bud

But if GPUs are up - well.. you just kinda hunker down. I know nVidia is hoping that they can slide all the price points north - it's a very obvious thing over the past few generations -- instead of focusing on making GPUs more affordable, they have focused on speed and features, which allows them to keep, and even raise, the margins. AMD is riding along behind - because why would you undercut yourself?

nVidia confounds me. Not only do they just release the top-tier first of the new generation, they continue to push the past generation in the lower "budget" tiers. The motive is obvious - continue to bleed more from the turnip while you can. It's perfectly capitalistic, I have to admit, but I hate seeing it happen to a hobby I'm interested in.

(For what it's worth - Apple has the mentality that older generations are "lower tier", but they don't tend to make lower tier hardware in the first place. You get current year for current year prices, or last year for a ~slight~ discount -- and nVidia seems to be trying to emulate this to some degree, but I have my doubts they will be as successful at it as Apple has been)

The people who think the current cards which are out are too expensive aren't going to jump on a 3050 refresh (which was just announced last week) when Ada is out and about -- they will all wait for Ada to come out with a 4050 or something affordable. If $300 for an entry level card is too steep, well... you are SOL - because that's the new entry level.

And I don't buy the "costs have gone up" argument. That may be true.. but you don't have to go out and make huge monolithic cards packed with AI cores that have almost no use in the lower end. You can make cards more affordable if there was an impetus to - granted it would come at the expense of speed or efficiency or size - but when your budget is a hard stop limit, well, that's what a lot of gamers have to work with. Intel seems to be the only vendor that gets that, and while I'm excited to see them finally get out of the gate, they haven't exactly gone out in a sprint.
 
Brian_B said:
And I don't buy the "costs have gone up" argument.
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Coming from the industry that I'm in I understand your take, but prices have gone up for a lot of things. Take for instance I ordered my new personal F150 in December of last year (2021). I had to eliminate the spray in bedliner option because there was lack of materials (which is another reason why things have increased in price), so I go ahead and eliminate the $450 option and it finally gets a build date of spring of this year. I get the window sticker from Ford shortly after telling me that the truck is now $2,500 more than when I built it in December and I eliminated an option so you'd think it would decrease, but that's not how it is right now. I finally took delivery of the truck in June, so delays are still a thing now as well.
I just sold a new 2022 Ranger not long ago, and showed the customers if I built the same vehicle as a 2023 it increased in price by almost $3,000 dollars.
I'm not sticking up for anyone or anything, but just pointing out that it's not just the PC hardware getting an increase (which I believe everyone here knows).
 
Niner51 said:
but prices have gone up for a lot of things.
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No I get inflation.

For the same XYZ - the price goes up.

What I'm saying is - they could cut back a bit on what is offered to bring the price back down. Just like you did with your F150 - you dropped some features and items to bring the price back down. In your case, it didn't come all the way back down, but it was lower than had you left it in there.

In the case of nvidia, and to offer an example: Why does a 3050 need tensor cores? It's not like you are running RT on a low end card anyway, and all they do is add cost. Sure, you ~could~ say "DLSS something something"... and I'd say "FSR works just fine w/o Tensor cores"
 
Brian_B said:
Also, if gas is up - well ****, you still got to get to work. If eggs are up - well ****, you still gotta eat something, and maybe you cut back from the good local microbrew to Bud
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That is one thing, but the another thing Is it really necessary to spend on GPU upgrades that often these days? Back in the good ol' times I switched GPUs more often than underwear almost. If one kept me going for a year that was exceptional. My current one hit 3 years last month, and I don't feel pressured to upgrade, I can still play every game I want close to maxed out graphics. So upgrade is not really a need, it is pure excess.
Brian_B said:
But if GPUs are up - well.. you just kinda hunker down. I know nVidia is hoping that they can slide all the price points north - it's a very obvious thing over the past few generations -- instead of focusing on making GPUs more affordable, they have focused on speed and features, which allows them to keep, and even raise, the margins. AMD is riding along behind - because why would you undercut yourself?
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They always focused on speed and features, 1up -ing price tiers only started consistently with the RTX generation it seems to me.
Brian_B said:
nVidia confounds me. Not only do they just release the top-tier first of the new generation, they continue to push the past generation in the lower "budget" tiers. The motive is obvious - continue to bleed more from the turnip while you can. It's perfectly capitalistic, I have to admit, but I hate seeing it happen to a hobby I'm interested in.
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I think that is a sound market strategy and I would have no problem with that if the pricing was in line with reality. By all means sell last gen models in the lower and middle levels, but the middle level pricing wise moved to where the top used to be 8 years ago accounting for all cumulative inflation. We are being taken for fools. And we are fools if we play this game.
Brian_B said:
The people who think the current cards which are out are too expensive aren't going to jump on a 3050 refresh (which was just announced last week) when Ada is out and about -- they will all wait for Ada to come out with a 4050 or something affordable. If $300 for an entry level card is too steep, well... you are SOL - because that's the new entry level.
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I think it is nvidia who will be SOL soon as the $300 entry level is the direct result of the crypto craze. But that's over, nvidia just hasn't caught on yet. Nobody is going to buy a 3060 for $400-500 in 2023. Simply because those who can spend $500 on a GPU already have something better from before 2021, and those who could not afford it, well they especially can't now with the food inflation.
 
Brian_B said:
I did want to say - thank you for pointing out the article is behind a paywall in the OP.
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;)
It's something that sucks about JPR. Only $900 to get the report, lol, but I'm guessing that Tom's has something set up with them and that's why I reference their story.
 
Surprise surprise.

Charge insane high prices, in the middle of uncertain economic times at that, and the already stretched consumer isn't buying?

Color me shocked.
 
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