Cryptocurrency Bubble Burst May Have Caused Delay in Nvidia RTX 2060 Launch
Due to a backlog of existing graphics cards, Nvidia’s next-generation GeForce RTX 2060 mid-range GPUs may be delayed for a bit longer. In a call Thursday when Nvidia released its earnings report, company executives explained that the end of the cryptocurrency boom had created an oversupply of the existing mid-range GTX 1060 cards. Prices for the card didn’t fall quickly enough to attract Nvidia’s traditional demographic of gamers, leaving the company in what it describes as a crypto hangover.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and CFO Colette Kress predicted that the company may be able to clear out remaining inventory of its existing chips, but the backlog situation could extend into the fourth quarter. Another issue that’s adding to Nvidia’s woes is the secondary, or used, market for GPUs. Cryptocurrency miners who had previously purchased Nvidia’s cards may be trying to offload their used cards now that the boom has ended. These used cards may be more attractive to budget shoppers, as they’ll cost less than new cards on the market.
“The crypto hangover lasted longer than we expected, and we were surprised by that, but it will pass,” Huang said in an interview with MarketWatch. Like Nvidia, rival AMD had also predicted that it may take the graphics market several quarters to correct itself following the cryptocurrency boom. In addition to gaming and the cryptocurrency mining market, Nvidia is investing in its technology portfolio that targets the autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, and data center businesses. Though those investments are paying off in Nvidia’s long-term strategy, the company’s stock price was immediately affected by the crypto hangover. Nonetheless, Huang remained optimistic about the situation, noting that the company has “overcome adversity far, far, far greater than this.”
There are speculations that this backlog will cause Nvidia to delay the launch of its RTX cards. “The oversupply specifically impacts Nvidia’s GTX 1060 graphics cards, which could result in a delay in shipments of Nvidia’s forthcoming Turing 2060 cards because Nvidia will surely wait for the existing stock to be liquidated before it floods the market with newer, faster video cards in the same price range,” Tom’s Hardware reported. The RTX 2060 will be part of the flagship RTX 2080 line based on the new Turing architecture that supports ray tracing. Nvidia has not announced an official ship date for the RTX 2060, nor has the company made any statement on potential delays.
Most recently, rival AMD also announced a new graphics card that was designed to compete in the mid-range graphics market directly against Nvidia’s GTX 1060. If AMD is able to attract gamers to its RX 590 GPU, Nvidia may require additional time to clear out the GTX 1060 backlog. It won’t be surprising to see price drops start appearing for Nvidia’s GTX 1060 in the near future.
