PC accessory and component vendor Corsair is predicting costs for desktop graphics cards will not only normalize in the coming weeks, but dip below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
“We're pretty convinced they're going to go below MSRP in the next month, certainly by the end of Q2,” Corsair CEO Andy Paul said in an earnings call on Thursday.
Paul made the statement as the company is predicting the price normalization for graphics cards—usually the most expensive component to a PC—will cause many consumers to build their own desktop rigs. “We expect that with GPUs becoming available and reasonably priced we will see a surge of activity in the second half of 2022 and 2023,” he added.
Supplies for GPUs have been improving since March. However, pricing has often remained inflated, forcing consumers to pay up to an extra $100 to $200 or more than they should have.
Corsair’s CEO didn’t explain why he believes pricing will normalize soon. But both AMD and Nvidia have said they’ve made progress in improving GPU supplies in recent months. At the same time, retailers including Newegg and Best Buy have been spotted discounting higher-end desktop graphics cards.
The other looming factor is how next-generation GPUs are expected to launch in September. Hence, the demand for the current-generation products, such as the RTX 3000 series, seems to be falling, according to auction data from eBay.
Still, the PC market could face some challenges in the coming quarters. The inflation hitting other goods and concerns about an economic recession could cause some consumers to avoid heavy spending. COVID-19 lockdowns in China are also disrupting electronics manufacturing.
Nevertheless, Corsair is betting PC demand will be strong later this year, especially among the enthusiast crowd. “We're going to have new GPUs and CPUs out (later this year). And some pretty good games coming. So, I think that's when there's going to be a big growth,” Paul added. It's unclear how much these next-generation GPUs will cost, though.