Katarzyna Petru
The technology industry is in turmoil. At the beginning of 2026, we received concerning information about the supposed discontinuation of the production of popular new-generation graphics cards. Although NVIDIA and ASUS officially deny these reports, the facts are indisputable: the global crisis in the memory market is beginning to dictate conditions that we will all feel.
ASUS and NVIDIA: Communication paralysis surrounding the RTX 50 series
It all started with a report from Hardware Unboxed, which, citing representatives of ASUS, announced the status of EOL (End of Life) for the models GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. This information caused panic, suggesting that just a few months after the launch, NVIDIA is withdrawing from the market some of the most profitable cards with larger amounts of VRAM.
The reaction from the producers was swift, but also chaotic. ASUS issued a statement clarifying that these cards have not been withdrawn, and earlier information was the result of "incomplete communication" from the PR department. NVIDIA added that the demand is enormous, and production is ongoing, however, they conceded on one key issue: the supply of memory is extremely limited.
AI consuming the world's memory
The real reason for the confusion is not the lack of willingness from manufacturers, but a drastic shortage of memory chips (both GDDR7 and standard DRAM). The explosion in demand for infrastructure for Artificial Intelligence has led giants like Samsung and SK Hynix to redirect their production capacities to meet the needs of AI server farms, where margins are significantly higher. As a result, the production of graphics cards with 16 GB of memory is becoming a logistical nightmare for manufacturers. NVIDIA faces a tough choice: either produce expensive flagship models (RTX 5090) or revert to models with 8 GB of memory in order to maintain any availability of stock on the shelves.
Will televisions also become more expensive?
Although it may seem that the crisis only affects powerful computers, the RTV industry will also be hit. Modern Smart TVs typically have 3 to 4 GB of RAM – this is not much compared to graphics cards, but on the scale of millions of units produced, the demand for these components is enormous.
During CES 2026, representatives from Samsung warned that the costs of DRAM memory for consumer devices have nearly doubled over the past year. Even if a television does not require the fastest GDDR7 chips, the competition for basic DRAM modules is becoming increasingly fierce “No company is immune to the effects of this crisis. It affects everything – from smartphones to household appliances and televisions” – acknowledged TM Roh, co-CEO of Samsung.
For us, consumers, this means one thing: the upcoming television releases for 2026 may debut with higher starting prices, and manufacturers may be looking to save costs by reducing the amount of memory in cheaper models, which will directly impact the performance of Smart TV systems.
Source: Hardware Unboxed, Tom’s Hardware, NVIDIA, ASUS, FlatpanelsHD
