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Technology

Despite Lower Shipments, Retailers & Stores Are Stocked With Cards

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It’s been a few days since NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card launched at a ridiculous price point of $1199 US and it looks like consumers ain’t buying it (literally). Days after its launch, the card isn’t selling well in the consumer segment and there are plenty of reasons.

‘Nope’ Is Consumers Reply To The $1199 US NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Graphics Card, Lower Stock Than 4090 & Still Stocked Up At Retailers

In our own review, we found the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 to be an impressive card in terms of gen-over-gen performance and power efficiency, however, the price that NVIDIA is asking for is simply absurd. The 4080 launched at $1199 US, making it the single largest price bump we have ever seen on an ’80’ class GeForce graphics card.

Just to put things into perspective. the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 launched at $699 US two years ago. The GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB launched at 899 US. Comparing these to the 4080’s $1999 US price, we see a 71.5% and a 50% price bump gen-over-gen. Previously, the NVIDIA ’80’ class cards had been positioned well in the $550-$700 US range for several years. Following is a comparison of various gen GeForce GPU’s pricing:

NVIDIA GeForce GPU Segment/Tier Prices

Graphics Segment 2014-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023
Titan Tier Titan X (Maxwell) Titan X (Pascal) Titan Xp (Pascal) Titan V (Volta) Titan RTX (Turing) GeForce RTX 3090 GeForce RTX 3090 Ti
GeForce RTX 3090		 GeForce RTX 4090
Price $999 US $1199 US $1199 US $2999 US $2499 US $1499 US $1999 US
$1499 US		 $1599 US
Ultra Enthusiast Tier GeForce GTX 980 Ti GeForce GTX 980 Ti GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GeForce RTX 3080 Ti N/A
Price $649 US $649 US $699 US $999 US $999 US $1199 US $1199 US N/A
Enthusiast Tier GeForce GTX 980 GeForce GTX 1080 GeForce GTX 1080 GeForce RTX 2080 GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GeForce RTX 3080 10 GB GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB GeForce RTX 4080
Price $549 US $549 US $549 US $699 US $699 US $699 US $999 US $1199 US
High-End Tier GeForce GTX 970 GeForce GTX 1070 GeForce GTX 1070 GeForce RTX 2070 GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
GeForce RTX 3070		 GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 16 GB GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
Price $329 US $379 US $379 US $499 US $499 US $599
$499		 TBA TBD
Mainstream Tier GeForce GTX 960 GeForce GTX 1060 GeForce GTX 1060 GeForce GTX 1060 GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER
GeForce RTX 2060
GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
GeForce GTX 1660		 GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB		 GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB		 N/A
Price $199 US $249 US $249 US $249 US $399 US
$349 US
$279 US
$229 US
$219 US		 $399 US
$329 US		 $399 US
$329 US		 N/A
Entry Tier GTX 750 Ti
GTX 750		 GTX 950 GTX 1050 Ti
GTX 1050		 GTX 1050 Ti
GTX 1050		 GTX 1650 SUPER
GTX 1650		 GTX 1650 SUPER
GTX 1650		 RTX 3050 N/A
Price $149 US
$119 US		 $149 US $139 US
$109 US		 $139 US
$109 US		 $159 US
$149 US		 $159 US
$149 US		 $249 US N/A

If we take crypto out of the equation for a second (which helped inflate prices of cards artificially), users who actually paid $700 or $800 US for an RTX 3080 are simply not ready to dish in over $1K US for an ’80’ class graphics card despite all the performance and all the fancy features that it has to offer. And that leads us to today.

Retailers in almost all regions are stocked with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card. This is not a sight that was seen after the RTX 4090’s launch and it is definitely not due to the massive inventory that NVIDIA has for the RTX 4080. In fact, based on the numbers we have, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 shipments are close to 30,000 units.

That’s 70% less than RTX 4090’s shipments which were at 100,000 units a few weeks back (we reported here exclusively) and are currently close to 130,000 units. So the entirety of the RTX 40 series cards has shipped around 160,000 units. That’s 30,000 RTX 4080 and 130,000 RTX 4090 units. So despite a lower quantity of shipments, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is still having a hard time selling and consumers are simply either waiting for a cheaper solution under the $1000 US bracket or getting themselves an RTX 4090.

Here are just a few examples of various stores in the US sitting with piles of RTX 4080 graphics cards that no one is interested in buying:

Following is the situation at most retailers and while Newegg has all their cards sold out, it looks like eBay scalpers may have a big hand in causing these shortages as the site is loaded with cards priced above $1600 US and even some which are priced above $2000 US (we don’t recommend buying any of these scalped cards):

This leads us to the third part of the story and that’s the individual AIB model pricing. Most NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 cards are priced neck-to-neck with an RTX 4090 Founders Edition or AIB models with reference pricing. For example, ASUS’s RTX 4080 ROG STRIX and TUF Gaming are currently at $1500 & $1549 US, respectively. We also recently covered an anime-themed model which is priced higher than an RTX 4090. The RTX 4090 offers a 30-40% performance bump over the RTX 4080 so users would rather pay for that extra performance and massive VRAM pool for 10-15% more price rather than get an overly priced 4080.

The last and most crucial thing that is holding off consumers from buying an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card is the imminent launch of AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards which the red team has been marketing directly against the RTX 4080, throwing shots at the 16-pin connectors (now confirmed as a user-error), its hugely oversized reference models and betting on its brand new set of features. The prices are very attractive at $899 and $999 US but despite that, we would recommend our readers wait for final reviews. Regardless, that doesn’t change the fact that the GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card offers the worst perf to $ value at the moment.

Which flagship graphics cards are you most interested in?Poll Options are limited because JavaScript is disabled in your browser.



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Entertainment

Ezra Miller Housing 3 Kids, Their Mother on Vermont Farm Stocked With Guns and Weed: Report

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Forget lawyers, guns, and money—Ezra Miller’s got bullets, guns, and weed to spare, according to a Thursday report from Rolling Stone. The controversial D.C. star whose disturbing antics are becoming the order of the day is now accused of housing three young children and their mother at their 96-acre Vermont farm, an allegedly unsafe environment so rife with marijuana and unattended firearms that a 1-year-old reportedly picked up a loose bullet and put it in her mouth. Rolling Stone reports that Miller has been “hosting” the mother, 25, and her children since April. Video footage from that month obtained by the magazine, it reported, shows at least eight weapons strewn around a living room, some of which appeared to be lying against a pile of stuffed animals. The children’s mother has said the farm has been a “healing haven” for them and characterized the kids’ father, one of Rolling Stone’s sources, as “violent and abusive,” an allegation the unidentified man denies. “I am going through hell and back,” the father told the magazine. “I got a bad feeling in my stomach… I do want to go get my kids, they mean the fucking world to me.”

Read it at Rolling Stone

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Business

Even your backup grocery store is struggling to stay fully stocked

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But if they’re hoping to pivot to a neighborhood convenience store to fill in some everyday necessities, they might be out of luck there, too.

Convenience stores typically serve as an ideal substitute to a grocery store when all that’s needed is a case of water, a couple bags of chips or maybe just a carton of milk.

That makes local shops perfect for the quick mid-week, fill-in grocery trip, said Arie Kotler, president and CEO of Arko Corp., which operates over 1,400 small format convenience stores in 28 states.

But convenience store operators say the ongoing supply chain disruptions have also impacted their ability to adequately meet the fill-in needs of shoppers in larger cities and, more importantly, the daily essential needs of customers in secondary markets and rural areas where a convenience store might be the only store in town for food items.

Kevin Smartt, CEO of Texas-based convenience store chain TXB (which stands for Texas Born) has been closely monitoring weekly product availability reports from his distributors.

The company operates 50 stores across Texas and Oklahoma. Each location is an average of 4,500 square feet, serving a mix of freshly-prepared foods like tacos, salads and sandwiches plus a variety of grab-and-go packaged goods. Some locations also sell fruits and vegetables.

“Here’s the magnitude of the problem right now,” Smartt said. “As a chain, we’re probably averaging 6,500 to 8,000 outs a week from manufacturers,” he said. ‘Outs’ refers to a specific branded product that is out of stock and can’t be delivered that week.

That’s a very high number. Across TXB, out-of-stock products are averaging 12% to 13% currently, Smartt said. “In a normal environment, it would be about 1.5%.”

Smartt said the usual contingency plan would be to restock with another brand, but even that’s proving to be difficult.

“It’s a daily struggle to buy substitute brands from alternative suppliers for products we carry. It’s a war zone because everyone is doing the same thing,” he said. “It’s a logistical nightmare and sometimes the substitutes that we have to buy are more expensive.”

Although TXB has stores in larger cities such as Austin, Texas, most of its locations are in small towns, many with populations of only 2,000 to 3,000 residents, where it is the only store in town, he said.

“In those places, the convenience store is a lifeline for the community,” Smartt said. “There’s a lot of frustration from customers. Anything on top of the supply chain challenges, like bad weather, is making the situation worse.”

“In a lot of communities, we’re it”

That’s also a challenge for Arko, which has a majority of its stores in small towns and rural areas.

“In a lot of communities, we’re it,” said Mike Welsh, the company’s senior vice president of operations. “It’s a town with a mountain surrounding it, for example. There’s a high school and a town hall. It’s a small community where the school football team comes to us after a game to celebrate.”

Those communities tend to rely on the local convenience store for more than buying food.

“A local health department contacted us about a store in southwest Virginia to use it as a mobile location for vaccinations,” said Welsh. The Omicron variant has spread through Arco’s own store workers, although Welsh said stores have so far avoided shut downs.

Welsh said quite a few Arco locations have kitchens that prepare ready-to-eat foods like pizzas and chicken. Other products are what you’d typically expect to find in a convenience store — bottled water, sodas, chips and candy.

Other merchandise has been added throughout the pandemic, such as soaps, masks and sanitizing wipes. “The community relies on us for all of these products. For us, especially in our markets, it’s critical to have a well-oiled supply chain that’s moving quickly,” he said.

Like TXB, Welsh said shoppers at Arko-owned convenience stores have fewer options because of supply chain slowdowns. “We’re trying to fill in gaps with substitute items, and at times we just can’t,” he said.

The uncertainty of not knowing what they’ll be able to buy on any given day because of shortages is making customers anxious.

At one Arko store, Welsh recently saw that a group of customers had lined up early, before the delivery trucks were scheduled to arrive. “They were out there waiting for the trucks to be unloaded in hopes of getting what they needed,” he said.

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Business

Biden says ‘shelves are going to be stocked’ for the holiday season

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“If you watched the news recently, you might think the shelves in all our stores are empty across the country, that parents won’t be able to get presents for their children this holiday season,” Biden said. “But here’s the deal: For the vast majority of the country, that’s not what’s happening.”

The President touted actions his administration has taken to speed up operations and extend hours at key southern California ports as well as facilitating the transportation of goods more quickly.

Overall, Biden said “shelves are going to be stocked” and that the US is “heading into the holiday season in very strong shape.”

Biden said CEOs he met with earlier this week “reported that their inventories are up, shelves are well stocked and they’re ready to meet the consumer demand for the holidays.” The President hosted a roundtable at the White House with executives from Best Buy, Food Lion, Etsy, Walmart, Mattel, Samsung, CVS Health and others.

In October, in response to a backlog of container ships off of the West Coast, the President announced the Port of Los Angeles would move to 24/7 service, bringing it in line with operations at the Port of Long Beach, which was already working on a 24/7 schedule. Those two ports handle 40% of container traffic in the US.

“Over the last month, the number of containers left sitting on docks blocking movement to those stores was for over eight days. Now it’s down by 40%, which means they’re heading to shelves in stores more quickly,” Biden said. “That’s an incredible success story.”

The President also addressed rising consumer prices that are frustrating Americans across the country and said his administration has been “using every tool available” to address the issue. The White House is facing mounting pressure to lower skyrocketing prices at the pump that are contributing to the biggest inflation spike in decades.

“This is a worldwide challenge, a natural by-product for the world economy shut down by the pandemic as it comes back to life,” Biden said, pointing to other countries like the United Kingdom and Canada that are having the same issue.

The President said: “Prices are still out of sync as the world comes back. But as we continue to overcome these obstacles, the more price pressures will ease.”

He said the US’ release of emergency oil reserves, which is being conducted in coordination with several other major countries, “won’t solve the high gas prices overnight, but it has been making a difference.”

Over the last month, he said, “likely due in part to the anticipation of this action, we’ve seen the price of oil and gasoline on the wholesale markets come down significantly.”

“In fact, since the end of October, the average weekly price of gasoline in the wholesale market has fallen by about 10%. That’s a drop of 25 cents per gallon. Those savings should reach the American people very soon, and it can’t happen fast enough,” Biden said.

The Department of Energy will release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — the largest release from the reserve in US history, Biden said. It is being done in coordination with several other countries, including China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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