AMD GPU Prices Set to Rise as Memory Costs Soar
â–¼ Summary
– AMD is notifying partners of imminent GPU price increases, including its Radeon gaming lineup, due to rising memory costs.
– This marks the second price hike from AMD, following a minor increase in October, with the next GPU allotment expected to be more expensive.
– The price increases are driven by DRAM manufacturers raising memory costs over 2x due to high AI demand and sluggish production.
– NVIDIA is also considering a similar GPU price hike, planned for early 2026, affecting all companies reliant on DRAM products.
– The article attributes the price hikes to DRAM manufacturers not increasing production to meet AI demand, rather than blaming GPU makers.
Consumers should prepare for higher costs on AMD graphics cards, as the company reportedly plans to implement a second round of price increases driven by surging memory expenses. This adjustment will affect the entire Radeon gaming lineup, along with workstation and AI-focused GPUs, following an industry-wide trend of rising DRAM and NAND flash pricing.
According to recent industry reports from Chinese sources, AMD has begun notifying its partners about impending price adjustments. The move comes as memory manufacturers face unprecedented demand from the artificial intelligence sector while maintaining limited production capacity. This supply-demand imbalance has caused memory component costs to more than double in recent months.
AMD previously implemented a minor price adjustment in October, though that increase had minimal impact on final consumer pricing. The forthcoming change, however, is expected to be more substantial and will likely affect the next shipment of GPUs to board partners. While the specific implementation date and exact percentage increase remain unconfirmed, the company has indicated that rising memory procurement costs necessitate this action.
The situation extends beyond AMD, with industry analysts anticipating similar moves from other graphics card manufacturers. NVIDIA is reportedly considering its own price adjustments scheduled for early 2026, suggesting this will become an industry-wide phenomenon rather than an isolated incident. Both companies rely heavily on memory components like GDDR and LPDDR, which have seen dramatic cost increases throughout the supply chain.
The root cause of these price increases lies not with GPU manufacturers themselves, but with the memory production sector. Despite growing demand from AI applications, DRAM and NAND flash manufacturers have been slow to expand production capacity. This has created shortages that allow suppliers to command significantly higher prices for their components, with these increased costs inevitably passed along to consumers.
This pricing environment raises questions about responsibility for the final cost increases that gamers and professionals will face. While GPU manufacturers implement the price adjustments, they’re responding to market conditions created by memory suppliers and unprecedented demand from the AI sector. The interconnected nature of the technology supply chain means multiple factors contribute to the final pricing consumers see at retail.
As the situation develops, consumers seeking new graphics cards may want to monitor pricing trends closely. With both major GPU manufacturers facing similar cost pressures from their memory suppliers, the entire discrete graphics market appears poised for a period of elevated pricing until memory production capacity can better align with current demand levels.
(Source: WCCFTECH)
