AMD to Hike GPU Prices, Including Radeon Gaming Line, Due to Memory Costs
Chinese Board Channels have earlier reported that AMD might be taking measures to increase the price of its GPU families affecting consumer "Radeon" gaming graphics cards. The representative cause for this proposed incursion is the rising cost of memory components.
The Cause Behind the Price Hike
This price adjustment is fuelled by market dynamics in the memory sector. Major manufacturers of DRAM and flash memory have been increasing their prices due to surging demands from the AI industry. With memory production remaining slow and unable to meet such demands, the costs of components such as GDDR memory types, which are very crucial for graphics cards, have been very unwantedly shot into high ranges.
AMD's Second Price Hike Notification
AMD has officially informed its partners regarding the implementation of the price hike. This would be the second announcement made by the company after notifying its partners in October. The main highlights from the internal memo include:
- Heavily increased costs for memory procurement were cited as the reason.
- Increased pricing for shipments to partners on GPUs.
- Greater than the past adjustment is anticipated, with the possibility of affecting all GPU models.
Notably, the formal date and extent of the price increase have not been set in stone.
Wider Market Consequences
The consequences of this price hike are set to be felt across the board in all segments of AMD's GPU lineup, namely consumer Radeon cards, workstation products, and AI accelerators. It is far from being an AMD-exclusive issue, as some unconfirmed reports suggest NVIDIA is also thinking of instituting a similar price hike across its GPU lineup, tentatively scheduled for early 2026. Obviously, rising prices for DRAM products are starting to pinch GPU manufacturers as they simply pass on these costs.
Both NVIDIA and AMD now find themselves at the mercy of the DRAM business for this price hike, as these manufacturers find that their production rates have not kept up with high demand from AI, thus leading to shortages and consequently increasing costs to them.
