Russian graphics card prices surge 158% as miners and scalpers take advantage of the situation

According to data released by Wildberries (hereinafter referred to as WB), the largest e-commerce platform in Russia, in the first quarter of this year, the platform's graphics card sales increased by 4 times year-on-year, processor sales increased by 3 times year-on-year, and motherboard sales increased by 2.5 times year-on-year.

As demand increased, the average order value of these products also increased significantly. The average order value of graphics cards increased by 158% year-on-year to 32,969 rubles; processors increased by 27% to 13,478 rubles; and motherboards increased by 45% to 8,406 rubles.

Additionally, purchases of additional memory modules, which help boost computer performance, increased threefold, and power supplies increased sixfold.

WB analysts said that the increase in demand is not only due to the popularity of remote work and learning and the development of the gaming industry, but also related to cryptocurrency. As people's interest in cryptocurrency "mining" increases, people begin to buy graphics cards for "mining". WB expects Russians' interest in SSD and HDD hard drives to increase significantly in the future.

Due to the combined effects of cryptocurrency miners, scalpers and the surge in gaming demand, graphics card prices around the world have spiraled out of control. According to Caijing.com, a netizen said that the graphics card he bought for around 800 yuan in 2019 is now selling for 2,800 yuan on Xianyu, a 3.5-fold increase.

Data shows that in the first quarter of this year, the transaction volume of graphics cards on Xianyu increased by 338% compared with the same period last year. In addition, the transaction volume of graphics cards priced above 100,000 yuan on Xianyu increased by 4.7 times in 2020. The supply relationship is tight, and high-end graphics cards are already "hard to find" on the market.

According to foreign media reports, Nvidia said that it will continue to face a shortage of graphics card supply in 2021, and the shortage of new series graphics cards such as RTX30 may continue until 2022. In addition, TSMC and Intel also stated that chip supply problems will continue until 2022.

While people are mining and playing games at home, some Russians prefer to go outdoors. WB data shows that from April 12 to 18, online orders for camping supplies increased by 3 times year-on-year, and orders for fishing supplies increased by 3.2 times year-on-year.

Russia