GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards are not selling as NVIDIA had hoped, Tom’s Hardware writes, citing multiple sources around the world. Sales of the RTX 4080 are sluggish, according to US, Canada, UK, Germany, and China sellers. And many even call them terrible. It’s all about the price – the GeForce RTX 4080 is 70% more expensive than the previous RTX 3080 – $1199 vs $699. In addition, the tense economic situation in the world now does not encourage large spending.
Let’s start with the USA. There have been a number of interesting posts on the HardOCP forum about stocks of the GeForce RTX 4080 in retail stores. For example, stock of the RTX 4080 at major retailer Microcenter increased shortly after it went on sale, and the latest data shows that 1,227 graphics cards are still available from that retailer. Usually, new video cards are sold out immediately and there should be no stocks now, so these data clearly indicate a weak interest in the new product.
On Newegg and Amazon, GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards are also sold, but mostly by third-party resellers and at higher prices. This is to be expected for a newly released graphics card. But it is worth noting that the prices on these sites RTX 4080 start at 18% higher than the recommended price of NVIDIA ($1199), while older GeForce RTX 4090 are offered at prices more than 40% higher than the recommended ($1599). That is, again, interest in the flagship is much higher than that of the RTX 4080.
In Canada, Hardware Canucks also noted a high level of inventory – video cards are available from many sellers, although everything should usually be sold out at the start. OC3D requested RTX 4080 inventory data from several retailers in the UK. At the time of writing, only NVIDIA’s own GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition appears to be in short supply in the UK.
In Germany, we see similar sales reports for the GeForce RTX 4080. Hardware Luxxe editor Andreas Schilling says that according to the site’s community, there are very few buyers of the RTX 4080. He also hints that there is also a large stock of GeForce GTX 16xx and RTX 30xx series graphics cards in Germany, which means that gamers and enthusiasts have plenty to choose from, and therefore they are not eager to buy very expensive GeForce RTX 40-series cards.
PC Games Hardware in Germany noted that after the successful early days for retailers (fast sales and high prices), interest began to decline. All the major German retailers now have stocks of the RTX 4080 and the secondary market is looking buoyant, presumably due to speculators. Also, PC Games Hardware conducted a survey, according to which less than 1%, or just over 500 people, believe that the price of the RTX 4080 is fair, with the most popular option being that the price is overpriced by 500 euros. In other words, the respondents want a true RTX 3080 replacement for the same price.
Chinese buyers don’t seem to be inspired by the GeForce RTX 4080 either. Hong Kong-based HKEPC reports that after the great sales of the GeForce RTX 4090, retailers were eager to stock up on the GeForce RTX 4080, but it didn’t get much demand. This is due to the fact that buyers are going to add a relatively small amount and buy an RTX 4090 instead of an RTX 4080.
In Russia, GeForce RTX 4080 video cards are also easy to buy now. New items are available in many stores, and there are enough offers on secondary trading sites. And this despite the fact that in Russia many cards are supplied through parallel import channels.
It would seem that the demand for a new long-awaited video card at the start of sales should be very high – it used to be like that. But this did not happen with the GeForce RTX 4080. Perhaps the reason for everything is the price of new items and the performance that it offers for this price. Yes, the GeForce RTX 4080 is significantly faster than the RTX 3080, but apparently not enough to cost 70% more.
At the same time, back in September, after the announcement of a new generation of video cards, the head of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, said that the high cost of GeForce RTX 40-series video cards is the norm. He believes that the new cards cost more than their predecessors for a reason, as they offer better performance. But, apparently, this was not enough for the RTX 4080, which cannot be said about the RTX 4090 – the latter is really interesting to consumers, but it has not risen in price as much compared to its predecessor.
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