Rising memory costs are expected to drive increases in graphics card prices from NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA, XETRA:NVD) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD, XETRA:AMD), according to a Kbench report.
Per the report, both companies plan phased price hikes across their GPU portfolios starting in the first quarter of 2026, with AMD potentially beginning in January and NVIDIA following in February. Monthly adjustments could continue throughout the year, it added.
Strong demand from AI data centers has pushed prices of GDDR7 and GDDR6 memory up several hundred percent in recent months. Memory now accounts for more than 80% of a GPU’s total bill of materials, Kbench noted.
The increases are expected to affect NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series and AMD’s Radeon RX 9000 lineup. NVIDIA’s flagship GeForce RTX 5090 could reach $5,000 later in 2026, while several add-in-board partners, including ASUS and MSI, have already raised custom RTX 5090 prices to $3,000 to $3,500.
NVIDIA is also reportedly considering a 30% to 40% production cut for midrange GPUs, including the RTX 5070 and RTX 5060 Ti. Prices for NVIDIA’s AI-focused H200 GPU, currently around $30,000 to $40,000, are expected to rise further as HBM3E memory costs climb roughly 20%.
Wedbush analysts said that while “hyperscaler demand for NVDA and AMD's AI systems will go on unabated in 2026,” they expect “higher memory prices will inevitably lead to demand destruction for consumer devices (including PCs).”
They noted that recent pricing shifts at PC vendors such as Asus, Dell, and Lenovo are likely intended to offset rising memory costs, citing TrendForce.