The graphics card sector, particularly at NVIDIA, is likely to see another increase in retail prices. Indeed, the Chameleon has recently put an end to a program (the OPP or Open Price Program) that helped its partners offer cards at MSRP… Although currently, recommended retail prices no longer mean anything.
End of the OPP = end of MSRP cards?
Broadly speaking,the Open Price Program was a program that helped the company’s partners offer cards at the right price. Without it, it was difficult for AIBs to offe rMSRP references. According to Der8auer, NVIDIA ended the program just a few days ago.
As a result, it is difficult to be optimistic about the future of graphics card prices… At least in the short and medium term. Currently, talking about MSRP doesn’t really make sense since memory is extremely expensive, not to mention supply constraints. Inevitably, since NVIDIA sells memory GPU bundles to its partners, if VRAM is expensive, prices are reflected in the final product. Especially since partners can’t source elsewhere. But under normal circumstances, it works pretty well.
We also know that the Chameleon will prioritize certain products, such as the RTX 5080 over the RTX 5070 Ti, for reasons of profitability. Without the OPP and with high memory prices, we can therefore expect that cards intended to be sold at NVIDIA’s recommended price will see their retail price increase significantly.
But this also raises doubts about future graphics card launches. These could be less “controlled” by the Greens. If manufacturers can no longer maintain MSRPs, their cards will inevitably be more expensive. We can therefore expect that only Founders Edition cards will be priced fairly. AIBs will have to compete with NVIDIA on price, while consumers will be faced with a catalog of products offered at exorbitant prices!