Nvidia has warned that supply of its RTX 30 series of graphics cards will be low for the coming months, with an increase in availability expected only after the first quarter of 2021. Speaking as part of the 19th annual JP Morgan Tech / Auto Forum Conference (transcript available at Seeking Alpha), Colette Kress, CFO of Nvidia, said it was not possible to keep inventory levels in line with customer demands not. Kress noted that there is not much stock available at the moment and expects it to remain the same quarter of the year. With the first quarter ending in March, this means the stock is likely to be short until at least April.
‘To talk about supply, we must first discuss the question. “We had an extraordinary holiday season,” said Kress. ‘We had an extraordinary holiday season. The demand for games is not on the map. Our overall Ampere architecture and ray tracing is a real success. This question has remained stronger for longer. The supply therefore remains tight at this stage. ” We expect total channel inventory, which means that inventory at our AIC partners as well as our e-tail and retail channels is likely to remain meager during the first quarter. Our overall capacity could not sustain the overall strong demand we saw, ”Kress added.
Nvidia has assured that it “works every day to improve our overall offering situation”.Nvidia’s RTX 30 series is likely to be fueled by a strong critical response and sold quickly. Scalpers quickly raised the demand for Nvidia’s most powerful cards ever, so it was a noticeable problem in the stranglehold on stock. There is also the question of whether many cards are being bought to use for cryptocurrency mining, but Nvidia admits it does not know if this has really contributed to the question.
The issue is likely to affect the upcoming RTX 3060, which looks like the best affordable GPU the company has made in at least two generations. A better inventory can be found in the new 30-series graphics processors for laptops, but that of course means investing in a new laptop.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s British news and entertainment writer.
