Reports have surfaced suggesting that many graphics card makers in Taiwan, including gigabyte, MSI, and TUL, are expecting a massive drop in graphics card shipments, due to a huge drop in demand from the cryptocurrency mining community. Because of this, word is getting out that prices are going to drop accordingly, and people who use graphics cards for gaming and other non-mining purposes are going to be happy again.
There are a few factors contributing to this drop-off. One, the cryptocurrency market is starting to slow down again, after tremendous growth in the past year or so. Two, devices meant specifically for mining, ASICs are taking off, and a company called Bitmain is planning to launch a new, more powerful ASIC in this year’s third quarter. Companies behind the Ethereum and Monero altcoins are also trying to work away from both ASICs and GPUs as well, which will shake up the market even more as these new ASICs are targeted at these markets specifically.
So the shipment drop is about 40% overall, whih has been caused by big mining clients suspending or even cutting their orders. With the number or orders drastically dropping, the current speculation is that manufacturers will need to slash prices in order to move more units. Since gamers and others have been struggling to buy new GPUs due to inflated prices and availability woes, this should lead to business leaning back in that direction again.
Source: PCGamesN