AMD and NVIDIA are reportedly weighing the discontinuation of low‐to‐mid-range graphics cards as sharply rising video-memory costs make these segments unprofitable. The bill-of-materials for budget GPUs has increased by 30% or more amid escalating demand for GDDR6/GDDR7 modules and reallocation of supply toward AI datacenter chips.
Entry-level models – typically offering the narrowest profit margins – stand to be most impacted. Industry analysts believe vendors may either postpone launches or significantly reduce volume of budget SKUs, compressing choices for mainstream gamers. Memory-price modelling indicates that even modest increases in VRAM costs can translate into double-digit retail price jumps.
The shift underscores how AI infrastructure demand is distorting consumer-hardware economics. Market watchers expect gaming-GPU pricing to remain elevated through 2026 unless memory pricing stabilizes.