The Netherlands is currently seeing a shortage of the latest video cards produced by computer component manufacturer Nvidia. The video cards, named the RTX-30 series, are unavailable or have a long waiting list on every retail website in the Netherlands.
Video cards are a computer component that takes care of video rendering in videogames. The RTX 30-series are the latest and greatest video cards in the lineup by Nvidia. The new video cards saw an increase in performance relative to the price when compared to earlier generation video cards. The new video cards give gamers a performance edge when it comes to running the latest video games.
To the disappointment of most gamers the RTX 30-series cards are really hard to come by. The options for buyers are either to buy the cards at an increased price from second party traders or to wait until they become available. Avant gamer from Groningen, Anders Anderson, states that he recently “ordered one online and now I’ll just have to wait patiently until the end of April”.
Dennis Meijer, content manager at Alternate, one of the main distributors of Nvidia products in the Netherlands, states that “the problem lies with the manufacturer, they simply cannot keep up with the demand right now. We cannot say when the products will be delivered to us, and how much they will supply”.
Colette Kress, executive vice president at Nvidia, states that stocks ”will likely remain lean throughout Q1[which ends in April]. Our overall capacity has not been able to keep up with that overall strong demand that we have seen.”
There are people who have gotten their hands on one or more video cards. However, some intend to make money off of the shortage by selling them at a profit. On the Dutch website for selling second-hand products Marktplaats, there are plenty of RTX 30-series video cards available but the prices have often doubled when compared to the original price by the selected retailers in the Netherlands.
One Marktplaats user, who goes by the nickname Duc, is selling three RTX 30-series video cards at a markup of 300€. When asked why he was doing this he replied with: “it’s just business”.
The shortage has been going on since the release of the RTX 30-series in September, but the situation has become even more uncertain as Dutch retailers removed the option to pre-order on their website until they can fulfill the orders that already have been made.
The Lens 