Graphics card prices fell across the board: In addition to the decline in "mining", two major factors cannot be ignored

The reporter visited the front line and found that the prices of graphics cards have dropped not only in offline computer accessories stalls, but also on online e-commerce platforms and second-hand trading platforms.

According to the market rules of electronic products, before a new product is launched, merchants will reduce prices to clear out inventory, reduce inventory pressure and exchange for cash flow. However, in the past two years, graphics cards have increased in price as soon as they were first released, and the price of old cards has increased instead of decreased.

However, as the market sends out opposite signals, graphics card prices are expected to return to normal.

Recently, graphics card prices in domestic and foreign markets have dropped significantly. The price of Nvidia's high-end graphics card GeForce RTX 3080 fell by 35% in one day in the Australian market, from 2,299 Australian dollars (about 10,000 yuan) to 1,499 Australian dollars (about 7,000 yuan), the largest drop in history. The prices of graphics cards of other specifications have also fallen by an average of 10% recently.

The GeForce RTX 3090 in the German market has also dropped from its previous highest of nearly 22,000 yuan to the recent price of 14,000 yuan, while the prices of some RTX 3080Ti graphics cards have even fallen below the official selling price.

A reporter from New Consumer Daily visited merchants in Hangzhou Bainaohui and learned that although the graphics card price bubble is bursting, the price of high-end graphics cards used for "mining" in China has fallen the most. Taking the GeForce RTX3090 graphics card as an example, a merchant told reporters that it once cost nearly 20,000 yuan, but now only costs 13,000 yuan offline.

At the same time, the reporter also found that the prices of graphics cards on the current mainstream e-commerce platforms and second-hand trading platforms have dropped.

Obviously, the trend of skyrocketing graphics card prices that has lasted for several years is expected to end.

Whether at home or abroad, new or second-hand, the price of graphics cards is no longer a "magic"

"Right now, high-end graphics cards used for mining have dropped in price the most." On March 25, a reporter from the New Consumer Daily rushed to Hangzhou BaiNaohui and learned from exchanges with merchants that the top-of-the-line graphics card GeForce RTX3090 used for "mining" once cost nearly 20,000 yuan, but now only costs 13,000 yuan.

"In June last year, the lowest price of GeForce RTX3090 was 16,000 yuan, and the price has been falling this year," the merchant told reporters.

Not only offline computer accessories stalls, but also graphics card prices on online e-commerce platforms and second-hand trading platforms have dropped.

Taking a certain 3080 series graphics card on a certain e-commerce platform as an example, the product has previously maintained a price of around 8,000 yuan; even on Double Eleven, the price did not bottom out, and only recently reached an all-time low of around 6,800 yuan.

Graphics card historical price trend chart from a price comparison shopping website

The reporter found on the second-hand trading platform Xianyu that as early as January this year, a large number of sellers selling mining graphics cards appeared.

Taking the AMD RX580 and RX5700xt graphics cards commonly used for mining on Xianyu as an example, their second-hand prices were about 3,000 yuan and 6,000 yuan last year. They fell all the way from January to March this year, and no transactions were made until the former fell to 1,000 yuan and the latter fell to around 3,200 yuan.

Xiao Zhang showed the reporter the transaction records

"I bought this RX580 on the platform for 650 yuan. I wanted to use it with the eGPU for my MacBook Pro," Xiao Zhang told reporters. Within a year, he found that the price of graphics cards on the platform had risen sharply, so he sold the graphics card and eGPU together. "The price increase of the graphics card basically made up for the depreciation of the eGPU. I guess I made no profit or loss on these two transactions."

The reporter also listed a 5700xt graphics card on Xianyu. As soon as the second-hand graphics card was listed, many buyers came to inquire about the price. Most of them were individual gamers who wanted to take advantage of the price reduction of graphics cards and quickly "pick up a bargain".

"I have always been using core graphics cards, just waiting for the price to drop," a buyer said when communicating with reporters. The price of graphics cards was too irrational before, and RX580 could be sold for 3,000 yuan. "Who would buy it except the mining boss?"

The "mine boss" who asked the reporter for price

Among the buyers who inquired about the price, there was also the "mining boss" mentioned by the aforementioned buyer - he was not too concerned about the quality and origin of the second-hand graphics cards, but more concerned about the computing power of the graphics cards. He said: "I have received 5 graphics cards, and now I need 3 more, which I will use for mining."

However, a stall owner said that it is not recommended to buy second-hand graphics cards at this stage. He believes that a large number of graphics cards have flooded the second-hand market, many of which cannot be sold after-sales or may have been repaired. "It is not expensive to buy new ones now."

New architecture graphics cards are about to be released, and mining machines are also competing for mining projects

In 2020, while the prices of multiple digital currencies continued to soar, the prices of graphics cards also hit new highs.

There are two reasons for this: on the one hand, the supply chain factories were unable to resume work and production in time due to the epidemic, resulting in insufficient supply; on the other hand, the "mining boom" caused by virtual currency also pushed the price of graphics cards to a high level. In addition, the "mining" bosses concentrated on purchasing graphics cards, and finally there was a phenomenon of "one card is hard to find".

However, as the price of virtual currency falls and regulators in various countries begin to regulate virtual currency mining projects, the industry is gradually returning to rationality, and the demand for graphics cards used for mining will naturally continue to decline.

In addition, the drop in graphics card prices during this period is also closely related to two factors.

On the one hand, NVIDIA will soon release a new generation of RTX40 series graphics cards in the third quarter of this year. It is reported that the series will adopt the AdaLovelace graphics architecture, built on TSMC's 5nm process, and have a huge performance increase.

Another potential reason is that domestic companies have already developed dedicated mining machines.

Take mining machine manufacturer Canaan Creative as an example, referring to its fourth quarter 2021 financial report released last month. The financial report shows that the total revenue for the quarter was 2.1846 billion yuan (about 342.8 million US dollars), compared with 38.2 million yuan in the same period of 2020, a year-on-year increase of 5636%.

"These machines all use ASIC chips designed specifically for mining," an industry insider told reporters. "The mining machines are all designed by some 'Huaqiangbei' factories themselves, and most of them are also produced by themselves."

According to 3DCenter's statistics in January this year, the average price of graphics cards in the German and Austrian markets, whether NVIDIA or AMD, is continuing to decline, with the average premium falling from 187% and 183% in mid-December last year to 177% and 167% respectively. Compared with the peak of 318% and 216% in May last year, NVIDIA has fallen by an average of 44%, while AMD has fallen by an average of 23%.

It is worth noting that in July and August last year, the minimum premium rates of NVIDIA and AMD dropped to 155% and 148% respectively, but then continued to rise.

Whatever the reason behind the drop in graphics card prices, it is good news for ordinary consumers. However, it is difficult to say at this stage whether the graphics card price bubble will burst completely.