In a troubling sign, Nvidia RTX 50 series prices jump up to 30% in South Korea — TSMC wafer hikes and $20 GDDR7 modules push RTX 5090 past $5,100 - Tom's Hardware

NVIDIA's RTX 50 series graphics cards are seeing significant price hikes in South Korea, with some models rising by up to 30%. The primary drivers are increased costs for advanced process wafers from ... Read original →

The recent price surge of NVIDIA's RTX 50 series in South Korea highlights deep-seated structural pressures within the semiconductor supply chain. Rising costs from TSMC's advanced process wafers, coupled with GDDR7 memory module prices reaching $20 per unit, have significantly increased GPU production expenses. This cost inflation directly impacts NVIDIA’s pricing power and underscores the fragility of global chip supply chains. As TSMC adjusts prices across its portfolio, including legacy nodes like 7nm, competitors may accelerate in-house process development or seek alternative materials to mitigate risks. If capacity constraints persist, such cost pressures are likely to spread globally, triggering industry-wide inflation. The RTX 5090 surpassing $5,100 signals a new era of high-cost premium GPUs, potentially constraining market adoption and consumer demand. Long-term, without substantial capacity expansion, this trend could define a prolonged period of elevated input costs and compressed margins across the sector.