Chaos in Tokyo: enthusiasm for new Nvidia gaming chips
Chaos in Tokyo: enthusiasm for new Nvidia gaming chips
An electronics store in Tokyo has apologized after hundreds of Chinese buyers who wanted to acquire the latest Nvidia gaming chips there caused excitement in the neighborhood.
chaos in Akihabara
This disorder that went viral on the social media of Japan, illustrated the effects of the technology war between the USA and China on gamers who are looking for an upgrade, as well as the resellers that serve their needs. Up to 400 people gathered in Akihabara last week-a popular shopping area for Video games, manga and anime-in the hope of getting the latest GeForce RTX 50 graphics cards from the US chip manufacturer, according to the electronics chain PC Koubou.
cancellation of the sale
The mess, caused by buyers who blocked the walkway and penetrated into a nearby property, forced the business to cancel the sale. The company officially apologized at the beginning of this week: "We would like to sincerely apologize for the great unrest that made our customers, residents and other worries worried," said PC Koubou in a message on Monday.
high demand for graphics cards
Taizo Hashida, a director at Unitcom who owns the business, told CNN on Wednesday that about 90 % of interested buyers were Chinese -speaking customers. The new graphics cards that were published on January 30 and are in great demand by gaming enthusiasts promise better processing speeds and an improved image presentation. This means that you offer better graphics quality and a more fluid gaming experience.
US export restrictions and the Chinese Markt
However, the graphics cards are not available in China because US export restrictions apply to advanced computer chips. These measures are part of Washington's efforts to prevent his rivals from accessing advanced technology that is useful for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and weapon systems.
Chinese gamers report that they receive what they call a “neutered version” of Nvidia's latest products. The company has created a modified version with slower AI components exclusively for the Chinese market. These differences have fueled the demand for the current generation in places such as Japan.
chaotic scenes in business
Last Thursday, PC Koubou offered to sell dozens of the GeForce series, including 10 of the most powerful RTX 5090 chips and 47 RTX 5080 chips, to the winners of a lottery in his Akihabara business. However, the number of those present far exceeded expectations, as the company explained in its message on Monday.videos that circulated online showed chaotic scenes in front of the shop where hundreds of buyers were pushed in a narrow area and swing on the street. Employees to set up in a snake were ignored, and at least one man climbed over a fence to get into a nearby kindergarten, report local media.
prices and sales figures
The sale was canceled, and instead a two-day online lottery was set up for Tuesday, the results of which will be announced later. This was not the first time that Nvidia developed a gaming chip especially for the Chinese market to meet US export controls. Last year, Nvidia started selling a China-focused RTX 4090D, which was 5 % slower than the international version RTX 4090.
The current RTX 5090, which is sold outside China, can process 3,352 trillion operations per second (tops). His counterpart on the Chinese market, the RTX 5090D,, on the other hand, only reaches 2,375 tops, which makes it about 29 % less powerful, according to the specifications on the website. However, both versions share the same specifications in other areas.
high demand in China
The RTX 5090 CHIP has a price of $ 1,999 in the United States, while it costs about $ 2,600 in Japan. Its modified version, the RTX 5090D, is sold in China for about $ 2,270. The demand in China for the latest generation of graphics cards is so high that Chinese resellers already bought chips that were bought outside the country offer up to $ 5,700 on the Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao.
On the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, there are numerous articles that ask for it or tips on how to buy chips abroad. One user expressed the desire to buy from South Korea: "Tell me about the risks. What should I look out for?" he wrote. Another user who claimed to be a student in Thailand said he wanted to make some money to finance his studies.
"I am a student in Thailand and hope to make some money for my tuition fees," wrote the person. "If I bring some RTX 5090s back, there will be rich men who buy them?"
CNN asked Nvidia for a comment.
Joyce Jianang reported.
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