The launch of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 has stirred up quite a bit of commotion due to extremely limited stock, leaving eager buyers feeling a mix of anticipation and frustration.
### Massive Demand Meets Minimal Supply: NVIDIA’s RTX Blackwell Faces Consumer Backlash
We had been forewarning our audience about the sparse availability of NVIDIA’s RTX Blackwell GPUs. While NVIDIA did caution us prior to the initial release wave, the level of excitement among potential buyers seems to have skyrocketed. This has led to what we’re now calling “inventory chaos” at various retail locations, including an intriguing situation unfolding in Japan. Reports from @sarasteam0151 highlight that Japanese customers, in their eagerness to snag an RTX 5090, have caused quite the uproar at the launch event.
In Japan, to keep the RTX 5090 launch fair and to dissuade scalpers, retailers opted for a “lottery” approach for early adopters. However, this strategy didn’t exactly go as planned. The event descended into turmoil with frustrated enthusiasts even climbing the kindergarten fence next to the store as they expressed their discontent with the limited availability.
The chaos isn’t confined to Japan. In the United States, similar scenes are playing out—markets are scrambling with reports indicating that places like MicroCenter are receiving only “single-digit” quantities of the RTX 5090. Desperate fans even camped out at stores days ahead of the launch, making it nearly impossible for the average consumer to secure a unit on the release day.
One of the main reasons for this scarcity appears to be NVIDIA’s decision to incorporate GDDR7 memory modules, which is complicating the supply chain. Additionally, with slim profit margins on the RTX 50 series GPUs, partners are selling above the suggested retail price, adding to the tumultuous launch. Our advice for buyers is to hold off for inventory levels to stabilize. Hopefully, stocks will recover in a few weeks, and by then, AMD’s RX 9070 series might also make its entry into the market, providing more options for gamers.
