Anyone who’s been paying attention to PC hardware over the last few months probably isn’t surprised that graphics card prices are going through the roof right now, mostly due to the ongoing RAM crisis. However, in its latest investors call, Nvidia has warned that the GPU shortage – at least for consumers – isn’t going to end any time soon.
In the company’s earnings call (via PCMag), Nvidia CFO Colette Kress explained that while gaming revenue for fiscal Q4 2026 was up 47% over Q4 2025, revenue for the segment dropped by 13% when compared to Q3 2026 likely due to the shrinking memory stock over the last few months. Kress further explained that “We expect supply constraints to be a headwind to gaming in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 and beyond”.
Nvidia’s fiscal year 2027 ranges from February 2026 to January 2027, which means we’re in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 right now. You can open up Newegg and just look at GPU prices right now to see the immediate effect of these “supply constraints”, but it’s the “and beyond” that is concerning.
I’ve spoken to a couple of analysts over the last couple of months, and I’ve heard the same thing from them. Back when I spoke to Principal Analyst at Moor Insight and Strategy, Anshel Sag, he told me that he expects the memory shortage to extend into 2027 or 2028. From what Nvidia’s CFO is saying here, it’s starting to feel more likely that this is the reality we have to live with for the next year or so.
I’ve reached out to Nvidia for comment on this story, and I’ll update this article if and when I hear back.
More Than Graphics Cards
It’s important to note that this ongoing shortage affects more than just graphics cards. Because basically every piece of modern technology needs RAM to function, the shortage is likely to affect the entire gaming hardware landscape – likely leading to higher prices across the board.
Just a couple weeks ago Mat Piscatella, Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana posted on Bluesky that the average selling prices for gaming hardware has skyrocketed in the last year. While this is likely due to more premium gaming devices entering the scene – like the Xbox Ally X and the PS5 Pro – increased hardware prices are already here.
I reached out to Piscatella for comment, and he reassured me that “given how quickly things are changing and evolving when it comes to component pricing and availability, setting firm expectations would be, in all honesty, a bit of a silly thing to do”. But he followed that up by saying “a reasonable expectation would be the potential for sporadic out of stocks, the likelihood of further price increases and delays or pricing and availability adjustments for any new devices currently planned to be released.”
We’ve already seen some of the latter happening. After all, just a couple weeks ago, Valve delayed the Steam Machine due to supply and pricing constraints. We’re still a ways out from the next generation of consoles, but even if Sony and Microsoft were planning on putting those out any time soon, it’s likely that they’re at least considering pushing them back a bit.
It’s still too early to know anything for sure, and I agree with Piscatella that setting firm expectations would be silly. But either way, gaming seems like its going to get at least a little bit more expensive this year.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
