Are graphics card manufacturers facing an existential crisis?

Kevin Hofer

28.1.2026

Translation: machine translated

The memory crisis, fuelled by the AI boom, is spreading further and further. Now a prominent graphics card manufacturer, Zotac, is warning of a threat to its existence.

Zotac is sounding the alarm. On its Korean sales platform Zotac Korea TagTag Mall, the company warns of the dramatic effects of the ongoing memory shortage. The situation is «serious enough to raise concerns about the survival of graphics card manufacturers and retailers». You can find the translation of the report at this X-Post.

Cashback programme as first victim

Originally, Zotac only wanted to announce the suspension of its recently introduced two per cent cashback programme. However, the announcement turned into a gloomy analysis of the entire graphics card industry.

The situation regarding the availability of memory remains tense. Suppliers have also announced that they will be supplying fewer graphics chips. According to Zotac, certain graphics card models could therefore soon disappear from the market. The company fears that only GPUs based on Samsung's manufacturing processes - i.e. the remaining models of the RTX 30 series - will remain reliably available. To make matters worse, the prices for silicon chips have skyrocketed to astronomical heights.

Price explosion for top and entry-level models

Zotac cites the chips for the RTX 5090 and RTX 5060 as prime examples of the escalating price increases. The effects have long since reached the retail sector: You can no longer find immediately available models of the RTX 5090 for less than 3300 francs / euro in our shop. In November 2025, these were still available for around 2500 francs. The situation with the RTX 5060 is currently less drastic, but prices are rising here too.

Zotac assures us that it will keep the cards as affordable as economically justifiable. The cancellation of the Korean bonus programme is likely to be an attempt to stabilise profit margins in the face of exploding memory chip costs. If the company's statements are correct, further price increases and supply bottlenecks can hardly be avoided.

Existential threat for specialised manufacturers

Zotac's existential concerns may not be exaggerated. Especially for graphics card manufacturers who rely on a single chip supplier. Many hardware companies have expanded their portfolio to include motherboards, AIO water cooling systems and gaming peripherals. However, not all companies have diversified in recent years. The sudden market upheaval leaves little time for adjustments.

Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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