Japanese hardware distributor CFD-BIZ has confirmed that GIGABYTE implemented a price increase on its graphics cards, effective for orders placed from August 1, 2026. According to the distributor's notice, dated July 28, the price revision was made by the manufacturer and is expected to range from approximately 120% to 140% of current prices, meaning increases of roughly 20% to 40% depending on the model. The specific GPU models affected have not been disclosed.
CFD-BIZ warned that some existing orders placed before August 1 may not be shipped and could be canceled, though this depends on individual order circumstances. The distributor said it may contact affected customers directly to discuss cancellations, and noted that some orders might still be fulfilled at the prior pricing. CFD-BIZ handles wholesale distribution rather than direct consumer retail sales, so the effect on final retail prices remains unclear.
The GIGABYTE price hike follows a broader pattern of rising GPU costs across Asia. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 series graphics card prices have reportedly increased by up to 30% in South Korea, and prices have also climbed sharply in China. Reports also indicate that AMD raised prices on its RX 9000 series GPUs, a move it had previously delayed due to concerns about losing market share to NVIDIA. Sources point to rising DRAM prices as a key driver behind these increases, alongside surging demand for AI hardware that has diverted memory chip supply away from consumer graphics cards.
One possible contributing factor specific to the Japanese market is the weak value of the yen, which may account for an additional 10% of the price difference if GIGABYTE's GPU supply was priced when the yen was at historically low levels against the US dollar. However, the US and Japan have jointly intervened to support the currency, suggesting the full 40% increase might not be sustained long-term, and the eventual increase could align closer to the 30% figure reported elsewhere in the region.
In the US market, popular models like the GeForce RTX 5070 and Radeon RX 9070 are currently retailing 15% and 18% above their original MSRPs, respectively. One US retailer told Tom's Hardware it had not yet received notice of price adjustments from suppliers, but had heard reports from Taiwan of NVIDIA raising GPU prices, which may be linked to the increases reported elsewhere. It remains unclear whether or when similar price hikes will reach US retailers, though industry-wide trends suggest further increases could be on the way.