Nvidia GPU shortages are here again
Nvidia has more bad news for PC gamers: GPU shortages are here again.
Nvidia warned that supply constraints would be a “headwind” during its fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call, although the company did not specifically say whether its GPUs or associated memory would be limited. It really doesn’t matter.
“Games revenue for the fourth quarter increased 47% from a year ago. [to $3.727 billion]driven by strong demand from Blackwell,” Colette Kress, Nvidia’s chief financial officer, told analysts. “Gaming revenue declined 13% sequentially as channel inventories naturally moderated after a season of strong holiday demand. We expect supply constraints to be a headwind for gaming in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 and beyond.
Whether or not you care about Nvidia’s financial situation, the takeaway is pretty clear: Nvidia can sell its GPUs for pretty much whatever it wants right now, and shortages in the market will drive prices even higher. Nvidia faces the same pressures as virtually every other component maker: AI is gobbling up and creating shortages in the RAM and storage markets. Now, Nvidia and Intel have warned of supply constraints, essentially subjecting the vast majority of PC components to supply limitations. All of this will continue to drive PC prices higher in 2026.
At the start of 2025, Nvidia warned that its high-end GeForce RTX 5080 and 5090 GPUs could be sold out. In its 2026 call, the company did not identify which GPUs would be under pressure. Kress was, however, asked about shortages in the context of AI memory demand.
If there is any hope, it could be that the supply issues are somewhat temporary. “As much as we would like to have more supply, we think for a few quarters it’s going to be very tight,” Kress responded to an analyst question about shortages. “If things improve by the end of the year, there will be an opportunity to think about what that will look like in terms of year-over-year growth. But it’s still too early for us to know at this point, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
Nvidia reported net income of $42.96 billion, up 94% from last year, on revenue of $68.127 billion, up 73% from the same period last year.
