Japanese retailer Applied Group has warned consumers of impending price hikes for graphics cards in the coming weeks and months. The company suggests that users planning hardware upgrades should consider purchasing sooner rather than later, as the market continues to face significant supply constraints.
Data from August to September 2026 shows that the median price for Nvidia RTX 50 series cards rose by approximately 41 percent. Notably, the flagship RTX 5090 model has surpassed a market price of $4700, reflecting a rare high in the consumer GPU segment.
Previous market trends in Asia indicate significant volatility, with some Gigabyte models in Japan seeing price increases between 20 and 40 percent. Similarly, certain RTX 50 series cards in South Korea experienced price hikes of around 30 percent earlier this year.
Analysts attribute the ongoing price pressure to the memory supply chain, specifically the high demand for HBM memory in AI data centers. This demand consumes advanced manufacturing resources, leading to tighter supplies of GDDR memory for consumer-grade graphics cards.
Rising costs in wafer foundry, packaging, testing, and other electronic components are further inflating manufacturing expenses. Industry observers view the warnings from Japanese retailers as a potential indicator for global market trends, as regional supply shifts often propagate to North America and Europe.
