NVIDIA is hitting a rough patch with the production of their mid-range RTX 50 GPUs, as they’re grappling with a shortage of chips while demand soars.
Right now, the supply chain for NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series is in turmoil. The launch of these GPUs, particularly the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, has been quite tumultuous. They’ve come onto the market with significantly low stock, largely due to the global surge in semiconductor demand, and this situation isn’t looking likely to improve anytime soon.
The well-known industry insider @mingchikuo has shared that NVIDIA might have to postpone the launch of mid-range RTX 50 GPUs by about a month to ease the strain on their supply chain.
Kuo tweeted that gamers and power users keen to get their hands on the RTX 5090 and 5080 are facing supply constraints that are causing shortages. These issues mean that the mass production of the RTX 5070 and 5060 could be delayed from February/March to March/April, and such limited supply will likely lead to these cards selling out rapidly.
Earlier today, we touched on this development in a post, highlighting that the RTX 5070’s release is now expected in early March, with Ming-Chi Kuo’s comments supporting this claim. The delay is straightforward to understand—NVIDIA just can’t keep up with the high demand for its current consumer GPUs. If they were to launch new models now, they’d run into stock issues again, leaving consumers disappointed.
To give some context on the supply chain issues, an analysis by @kakashiii111 reveals that Taiwan received fewer than 100 units of the RTX 5090, which is astonishing for such a crucial market for NVIDIA. This trend was consistent across several regions, with retailers noting “single-digit” inventories of the RTX Blackwell-labeled GPUs. NVIDIA seems to be struggling to balance supply and demand, and our estimates suggest it might take several months for the situation to stabilize.
@kakashiii111 also noted that one of Taiwan’s largest stores received only 20 units of the 5090 and 300 of the 5080 last week, part of an initial batch. Discussions with smaller sellers revealed they were fortunate to get even 1 or 2 units.
Postponing the release of mid-range GPUs might work in NVIDIA’s favor by allowing them to shift some attention from AMD’s RX 9070 series GPUs. If NVIDIA can manage a smooth release, it could be beneficial. Meanwhile, AMD is positioned to capitalize on this opportunity, as current sentiments aren’t in NVIDIA’s favor, giving AMD a good chance to lead in the mainstream GPU market with their RX 9070 models.
