Gamers looking to upgrade their PCs next year might face tighter supplies than expected. According to new industry leaks, Nvidia is planning to significantly dial back production of its upcoming GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards in early 2026. The tech giant is reportedly looking at a reduction of 30 to 40 percent, a move driven by a persistent global shortage of memory chips.
Mid-Range Cards Hit Hardest
The news, which first appeared on the Chinese forum BoBantang and was later picked up by Benchlife, suggests that mid-range options will bear the brunt of these cuts. Specifically, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and the 16GB version of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti are expected to see the biggest drop in manufacturing numbers.
These cards rely on GDDR6 and the newer GDDR7 memory standards, both of which are becoming increasingly hard to source. While Nvidia’s high-end flagships like the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 use the same Blackwell architecture, the company seems to be prioritizing those premium models or enterprise hardware over the more budget-friendly mid-tier cards. Although Nvidia hasn’t officially warned partners about price hikes yet, a drop in supply usually leads to higher price tags on store shelves.
AI Boom Drains Memory Supply
The main culprit behind this shortage isn’t a factory glitch, but the explosion of Artificial Intelligence. AI data centers are currently devouring massive amounts of high-performance memory, forcing major suppliers like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron to shift their focus.
Since enterprise AI hardware offers much higher profit margins than consumer gadgets, memory manufacturers are prioritizing those orders. This squeeze isn’t just affecting PC gamers; earlier reports indicated that smartphone makers are facing the same problem, potentially delaying phones with 16GB of RAM in 2026. Essentially, the race to build better AI is consuming the resources needed for everyday tech.
