Frenzied demand for nvidia graphics cards drives prices up

NVIDIA graphics cards are so overwhelmingly popular that cryptocurrency players and miners are willing to pay up to three times the original list price to get hold of them.

NVIDIA graphics prices can reach three times their original value

Currently, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card, which was retailing for $ 349 a year ago, is currently costing stores like Amazon about $ 800 or more, if you're lucky that some are left.

Gamers use graphics cards to play high-quality video games, but in recent times they have also been used to solve complex mathematical puzzles that are used to validate transactions and earn money using cryptocurrencies like Ethereum or Bitcoin.

Colette Kress , the company's Chief Financial Officer, said in a conference call Thursday that inventory levels for gaming GPUs were at historically low levels due to miners.

"We believe that the cryptocurrency has been a very significant factor in both revenue and price, creating an environment of scarcity that is driving up prices, " said Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore in a note after the results.

This is very negative for us consumers, but NVIDIA had revenues that increased 29% in the gaming sector, representing revenues of $ 1.74 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, representing more than half of its Total revenue.

NVIDIA is expected to unveil its new generation of graphics cards next month, and we don't know what might happen to the prices of those new graphics as they go on sale.

Reuters Source