- Japanese retailer warns of further GPU price hikes
- The retailer doesn’t specify which GPUs will see increases
- Consumers are urged to buy now, but GPUs are already overpriced and unaffordable in many cases
The PC hardware market is still in disarray, with RAM shortages impacting almost every component, and unfortunately, matters could get even worse for GPU hunters.
As Japanese retailer Applied has warned consumers about potential price hikes for GPUs (yet again). It’s unclear which GPU models this might apply to, but the retailer urges PC owners looking to upgrade their GPUs to buy as soon as possible
VideoCardz also highlights that Japanese retailers only recently adjusted GPU prices upwards. In August, stores in Akihabara warned that pricing would be around 20% to 30% higher than usual.
Considering the recent rumblings of price hikes from Nvidia’s board partners, it’s fair to suggest that these increases will likely apply to other regions outside of Japan (assuming there’s anything in these rumors).
If it wasn’t exactly clear already, these price hikes are caused by the RAM crisis which is affecting all manner of PC components. Graphics cards are hit due to the rising cost of the video RAM on board.
Panic buying still isn’t the best solution
PC owners are now hard-pressed to find affordable hardware upgrades, and it’s been that way since the start of 2026. The RAM crisis is showing zero signs of slowing down, too, especially with reports from Samsung and industry analysts suggesting that the memory shortage will last past 2027 or beyond that, even.
Despite that, I still don’t think it’s the best idea to panic buy now when it comes to a GPU. Many Nvidia GeForce or AMD Radeon third-party GPUs are either unaffordable or overpriced at various major retailers. Prime examples of the former are the RTX 5080 at $1,699 at Best Buy in the US currently, while the RTX 5060 remains overpriced between $450 and $500, despite its $299 MSRP.
The same goes for AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 XT, which has a $599 MSRP but can now cost up to $929 (specifically the Gigabyte overclocked model). The Radeon RX 9060 XT (16GB) also sits at least $200 to $300 above its MSRP, and the list goes on (in the US and elsewhere).
Simply put, buying a new GPU doesn’t seem worth it unless you’re a gamer looking to dive into the PC ecosystem for the first time. That’s a harsh reality to accept, but panic buying might do more harm than good by increasing demand (which could lead to further short-term price hikes).
