The inflated retail price of the Radeon RX 9070 is explained not only by the greed of sellers, but also by AMD discounts

Last week, AMD Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics accelerators went on sale and proved to be extremely popular among buyers. Although the Radeon RX 9070 series models showed higher availability compared to AMD’s previous-generation graphics cards, their stocks quickly ran out. This has led to the fact that the price of the new Radeon graphics cards has now risen above the recommended price, which is also facilitated by AMD’s selective discount program.

Image source: videocardz.com

Nvidia and AMD have delayed the launch of their next-generation graphics cards. The GeForce RTX 50-series accelerators were originally supposed to hit the market in November last year, while AMD’s graphics cards based on the RDNA4 graphics architecture were supposed to go on sale in late January this year. Both companies planned for this in advance by limiting the production and supply of previous-generation accelerators, which led to a decrease in stock at retailers and an increase in prices for older models, especially in the case of GeForce RTX graphics cards.

Delays in GPU releases and lower supply of older models are not the only reasons that have affected the cost of graphics cards. According to some retailers, AMD’s rebate system is also the reason for the price increase. AMD previously confirmed that the company will work with retailers and channel partners to “incentivize” them to sell accelerators at the recommended price.

The point is that AMD offers discounts on graphics processors, but mainly focuses on more affordable models with a recommended price. At the same time, AMD’s partners in the production of graphics cards have little reason to focus on the release of these models, since the production of more expensive overclocked versions of accelerators is more profitable. AMD’s discount system is built in such a way that discounts are offered primarily on models with a recommended price. The discount does not apply to other models, which is why there is a significant price gap between some models of graphics cards on the market.

The issue of selective discounting is particularly acute in the European and Australian markets, where the price increases for the RX 9070 accelerators have been most noticeable. In the US, AMD enthusiastically promoted sales of the new accelerators through the Micro Center chain of stores, which was apparently the main partner for the launch of the new accelerators. However, in other regions, the situation was completely different. According to the source, only one variant of the RX 9070 XT is currently sold at the recommended price, while the Reaper, Swift, Prime, etc. models are sold more than $100 more expensive.

It is also noted that sellers are trying to increase their earnings, which leads to an increase in the cost of new accelerators. AMD’s discount system does not work properly, and the limited supply allows them to expect to receive more profit by increasing the price, which is what sellers are taking advantage of.

David McAfee, vice president and general manager of AMD’s client processors and Radeon graphics business, said this week that the company’s current priority is to get GPUs into partner inventory as quickly as possible. AMD also wants to make sure its partners have what they need to build a wide range of Radeon graphics cards. “We want to make sure that customers can buy graphics cards at the prices they expect to see in the marketplace. We’re doing everything we can to make that happen, and making sure that retailers, retailers, and our partners are doing everything they can to ensure that they have sufficient supply at those prices,” McAfee added.