Overview
- PC Partner disclosed in its first-half 2026 results that entry-level graphics card shortages will get “even more” severe in the second half of 2026 and that average selling prices are expected to rise further.
- The company blames the pressure on AI-driven demand for graphics memory, which it says has raised GDDR6/GDDR7 prices and diverted capacity toward datacenter-grade memory.
- PC Partner reported constrained card volumes in H1 2026 while average selling price rose 10.7% year over year and net profit more than doubled to about $69.5 million.
- Retailers and reviewers are already seeing several entry-level models, including the RTX 3050, RTX 5050 and Radeon RX 9050, trading above MSRP in some markets as vendors favor higher‑margin premium SKUs.
- If memory and wafer tightness persist, analysts expect budget GPU availability and affordability to remain poor for months and possibly into 2027–2028, putting low‑cost PC builds at risk and shifting industry mix toward premium cards.