AMD has notified its add in board partners that wholesale prices for GPU and memory bundles will increase by at least 10% next month. The decision means custom Radeon graphics cards are about to get more expensive. Prices are going up. According to supply chain details surfaced on ChannelGate, the unified price adjustment takes effect across all major brands.
The silicon giant actually finalized this price adjustment back in June. Management decided to delay the rollout. The graphics card market was experiencing a slow recovery, and buyers remained highly sensitive to retail costs. Distributors also needed time to clear existing inventory. More importantly, NVIDIA had not yet raised prices on its competing GeForce lineup. AMD delayed the move to avoid losing market share.
The situation has changed now that NVIDIA is moving forward with its own price hikes. Rising costs for GDDR6 and GDDR7 video memory have forced the entire industry to adjust. The buffer is gone. All partner brands will adopt the updated pricing structure simultaneously next month. Soon, Radeon and GeForce cards will occupy nearly identical pricing tiers.
It is important to understand that this 10% wholesale hike applies to the GPU and memory bundles sold to board partners. It does not automatically guarantee a flat 10% increase at retail registers. Boards require other components that might not see immediate cost changes. Still, board partners will almost certainly end up passing these extra manufacturing costs down to consumers. Expect to pay more. Gamers should prepare for higher retail tags as older warehouse stock dries up.
