Waiting in queues for electronics is something we associate with the period before the revolution. Who would have thought that something very similar would be waiting for us a few decades later. The lack of hardware, especially consoles and graphics cards, caused waiting in virtual queues and a rapid increase in prices. But how did it all start and why is there such a shortage of everything? This is a relatively fundamental question to which there is no clear answer. But it is probably a combination of several reasons, which we will discuss in more detail below.
pandemic
There is probably nothing to solve here. The coronavirus pandemic definitely had an impact on hardware production, especially in the spring, when production in China stopped. All measures then relatively slow down all experienced processes.
Congested production lines
The second and no less important factor is the production capacity of the mentioned factories. When we think of Intel, we only have two big manufacturers: Samsung and TSMC. At Samsung, Nvidia manufactures chips for RTX 3000 graphics cards, and the situation there is not so bad there, it is significantly worse at TSMC. Several companies have their chips manufactured by them, and those with the greatest demands include Apple and AMD. The lines are already slowly catching up. For example, only AMD at TSMC manufactures both Ryzen 3000 and 5000 CPUs on the 7nm process, as well as RX 5000 and 6000 series graphics cards, as well as chips for next-generation consoles, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S.
Miners
We already had cryptocurrency fever here, specifically in 2017 and 2018, even then it was causing quite big problems for the entire hardware market, but definitely not as big as today. Bitcoin has more value than ever before and interest in graphics cards is enormous. And since there are virtually no proper models created directly for mining, miners buy graphics cards for players.
This illustrative example shows that the extraction of cryptocurrencies pays off. The photos come from a former internet cafe in Vietnam, which now mines cryptocurrencies, with owners now reportedly making higher profits than before.
Scalpeři
This is a concept that you hear everywhere. People who buy scarce goods on a large scale and then sell it at a much higher price. Of course, this is also a huge problem and unfortunately there is not much to do with it. Individual e-shops should definitely solve the problem of using shoes that buy all the stock in a few seconds, but as far as resale itself is concerned, this cannot be banned. This would lose the ability to resell used components for people who want to sell them to someone at a reduced price in good will, because they simply no longer need them. Theoretically, it is possible to regulate prices on sites that allow the resale service, but the question is, how would it be determined and how could it work at all? In addition, from the position of these portals, it is not exactly interested in doing something like that, because this resale generates additional profits for them.
And now that we have the causes behind us, let’s look directly at what it looks like with each piece of hardware.
Consoles
The situation with new generation consoles is not ideal, but not nearly as bad as with PC hardware. On the day of issue, large Czech stores usually received customers who ordered the console within a few hours of starting pre-orders. The situation then differs significantly for individual models. For example, the PlayStation is significantly more popular in our country than the Xbox, so there was enormous interest in the PS5 and it sold out very quickly. On the contrary, you can order the Xbox Series X even now and you will only have to wait a few weeks, in the case of the Xbox Series S you don’t have to wait at all, because this model is usually in stock. All consoles are continuously delivered to stores every month, but in small batches, so the situation is not improving significantly yet and it does not look that it should be any different in the near future. However, if you want to buy a PS5, try a smaller retailer, where paradoxically there is a better chance that it will get to you. Large stores are still pushing a long line ahead of them from the first day of pre-orders.
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As for the Nintendo Switch and last generation consoles, there is no shortage and you can get them without any problems.
Why are consoles everywhere for the same price?
Many people probably ask this question. While the prices in graphics cards are already burnt out in stores, the consoles are still sold for the same, official price. How is it possible? The answer is relatively simple. While graphics cards have a lot of so-called non-reference models from all kinds of manufacturers, who determine the price themselves, the console is always manufactured by only one company. In the case of the Sony PlayStation, in the case of the Microsoft Xbox. Both companies thus make every effort to sell the consoles only at MSRP, ie a predetermined price.
Processors
The situation is even better with processors than with consoles. If you can do with last-generation processors, ie Ryzena 3000 or 10th generation Intel processors, then you have won. Virtually all models are in stock in large stores. Worse, however, is the situation with AMD’s new processors, the Ryzena 5000 built on the Zen 3 architecture. Of these, only the Ryzen 7 5800X is in stock, probably because it offers the worst price / performance ratio. You will have to wait at least a few weeks for the other models, but you can rely on the price corresponding to the MSRP. Again, there are no variants from other manufacturers, the processor is simply from either AMD or Intel, and both companies make sure that their CPUs are sold at recommended prices.
Graphics cards
This is probably the segment that interests you the most, because it is in it that the situation is by far the worst. Not only are next-generation graphics cards not available, but essentially nothing is available at all. The strongest card in stock is usually the weak GT 1030 from Nvidia, with which you don’t really play games much. You may be lucky with the GTX 1050 Ti card more than 4 years old, where Nvidia has decided to produce it again and a few pieces are sometimes available in our stores. Again, this is no powerful card even for Full HD gaming. The price is also not entirely favorable, usually exceeding the limit of CZK 4,000, which would normally seem absolutely disadvantageous, but if you really need to buy a graphics card and do not want to wait, you probably have no other choice.
But you probably want the latest generation graphics card, so either the RX 6000 series from AMD or the RTX 3000 from Nvidia is available. In both cases, the cards sold out within minutes of the launch of the orders, and the situation has not improved much since then. Sometimes some cards get into the shops, but most of them are units of pieces that disappear again within a few minutes. So if you have found a model that has already been released, you can forget about it. The whole market behaves exactly the opposite of what it normally does. The later you buy the card after it is issued, the more expensive it will be. It is best to wait for the release of the new model, specifically on February 25, the RTX 3060 from Nvidia will be released. If you manage to catch the first wave, the price will still be relatively favorable.
It is absolutely best to buy reference cards, ie models directly from Nvidia / AMD. Unfortunately, Nvidia decided not to produce the so-called Founders edition of the RTX 3060, so we rely on models from AIB manufacturers. However, AMD continues to produce reference cards and sells them directly on its own official website. You are guaranteed to buy them for the official price. Of course, they do not have as good cooling and measures as some cards from AIB manufacturers, but thanks to the much lower price tag, it simply pays off the most. At AMD, however, you will have to wait a little longer for the next model to come out. The closest is probably the Radeon RX 6700 XT, which will probably be released sometime at the turn of March and April.
Other hardware
Surprisingly, the situation is very good for the other components. For example, you can buy RAM or SSDs without any problems, even at better prices than ever before. However, this is probably also the case with memories, which is gradually beginning to move to the DDR5 standard. However, there is no problem with availability with power supplies or motherboards.
This is a question that unfortunately no one knows the answer to. While at the end of last year, an improvement was expected at the beginning of this year, it did not happen at all, and on the contrary, the situation is even worse. It would significantly help to stop cryptocurrency fever, which, however, would occur only if their price falls and there is no indication yet. As customers, we can do nothing about this situation, so we have no choice but to be patient and wait.
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