There is plenty of stock in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and China.
According to multiple sources around the world, the GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards aren’t selling as well as Nvidia might have hoped. We checked reports and listings in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and China, and RTX 4080 GPU sales are, to put it politely, sluggish in all of these major markets.
Many of the reports are harsh in their assessment of Nvidia’s RTX 4080 sales performance, labeling it dire or abysmal. Others choose to emphasize the most serious flaw with this graphics card: the price is simply too high when compared to previous GeForce xx80 models (s). The 71% increase in generational pricing comes at a time when many people in the developed world are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis.
Starting with the United States, there are a few interesting posts about RTX 4080 retail stocks on the old HardOCP forums. The clearest indications of a lack of interest in the second-tier Ada Lovelace graphics card come from updates on Microcenter stock levels across the country.
For example, it was noted that Microcenter’s RTX 4080 stock had swollen shortly after launch, and the most recent figures show that this retailer still has 1,227 units available. These are poor retail figures for a newly released Nvidia GPU and only the second Ada Lovelace consumer graphics card.
Meanwhile, third-party resellers at higher prices can be found on Newegg’s RTX 4080 listings (opens in new tab) and Amazon’s RTX 4080 cards (opens in new tab). This is to be expected, as the demand for online purchases is generally greater than that of any single brick and mortar store. However, even online, the 4080 starts at 18% more than Nvidia’s MSRP, whereas the 4090 starts at more than 40% more.
Hardware Canucks in Canada observed a similar situation with regard to high stock levels. The Canadian tech site frames the RTX 4080’s unfavorable reception as a parallel to AMD’s Radeon RX 6500 XT launch in a Tweet. Despite the GPU crypto-mining phenomenon still raging, AMD’s little GPU was remarkable for being in stock everywhere after launch.
OC3D has questioned several retailers in the UK about RTX 4080 stock levels. At the time of writing, only the Nvidia-branded RTX 4080 Founders Edition appears to be in short supply in the UK. The UK source blames the low sales numbers on a mismatch between performance and pricing. It believes that a price cut for the RTX 4080 is a matter of “when, not if.”
Similar reports about RTX 4080 sales can be found in Germany. Andreas Schilling, editor of Hardware Luxxe, claims that sales units through the site’s community are “pretty darn low.” He also implies that the plentiful supply of GTX 16 / RTX 30 series graphics cards (approximately 7,500 units in Germany) indicates that gamers and enthusiasts aren’t in desperate need of an RTX 40 upgrade at this time.
PC Games Hardware in Germany reported that, after a strong start for retailers (rapid sales and higher prices), things have slowed. The RTX 4080 is now available at all major German retailers, and the used market appears to be thriving (scalpers?).
PCGH.de published an interesting update today in the form of an RTX 4080 survey. Fewer than 1% of the (500+) respondents thought the RTX 4080 was reasonably priced, with the most popular survey option claiming it was €500 overpriced. In other words, respondents want an exact replacement for the RTX 3080 at the same price.
The GeForce RTX 4080 appears to be uninspired by Chinese customers as well. According to Hong Kong’s HKEPC, retailers were eager to stock up on the RTX 4080 following the rapid sales of the RTX 4090, but the crowds did not materialize. It believes that buyers with a large budget will save a small amount of money and purchase an RTX 4090 instead of the halo product.
Conclusion
Remember that the first few days and weeks after the release of any highly anticipated graphics card should see the most demand. Furthermore, we are well into the traditional pre-holiday shopping season, with Black Friday sales already in full swing at many retailers. Reports of slow sales at this time are all the more damning for Nvidia’s pricing decision, with the RTX 4080 ($1,199) costing hundreds of dollars more than the RTX 3080 ($699).
