AMD has cut supplies of Radeon gaming GPUs to its graphics card partners in China by 20% to 50% since October, according to Board Channels, a Chinese industry source that tracks the graphics card channel. The shortage could last until January 2027, the report adds. The cuts apply across the Radeon RX range rather than to a single model, and monthly allocations to board partners are still falling, MyDrivers reported on 12 November. AMD has not commented on the report, and it has not announced any change to its supply plans.
The report describes AMD’s shortage as no less severe than Nvidia’s. Nvidia’s board partners in China have also been working with limited GPU supply, and Nvidia has reportedly cancelled a 24GB RTX 5080 for the Chinese market because of memory costs. Nvidia’s RTX 50 cards use the newer GDDR7, and the 3GB modules that card needed cost about three times as much as the 2GB modules on the existing 16GB model. Taken together, buyers in one of the biggest markets for DIY PC parts face tight supply from both GPU vendors heading into the end of the year.
Memory costs and AI demand are squeezing Radeon from both sides
Board Channels points to two causes: rising costs for memory and GPU cores, and AI computing demand taking production capacity away from gaming parts. Every card in the current Radeon RX 9000 line-up uses GDDR6. The RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 carry 16GB on a 256-bit bus and the RX 9070 GRE has 12GB on a 192-bit bus, while the RX 9060 XT uses 8GB or 16GB on 128 bits. DRAM makers have shifted wafer capacity towards high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators, which tightens supply and raises prices for older graphics memory such as GDDR6. GPU vendors commonly sell their chips to board partners together with the memory, so those costs land on AMD’s allocations directly.
The pressure was already visible in AMD’s results. The company reported gaming revenue of $773 million for the third quarter, down 40% from a year earlier, which it put down to lower semi-custom and graphics revenue. Data centre revenue rose 97% to $8.5 billion in the same quarter. In May, AMD had already warned that higher memory and component costs would cut its second-half gaming revenue by more than 20% compared with the first half.
Radeon prices in China have already risen twice this year, with a third rise expected
The supply cuts follow a run of price increases in China. AMD told partners in August that Radeon prices would rise by 10% or more, and new list prices took effect on 1 October, according to SMZDM. The RX 9070 rose by 700 yuan to 6,299 yuan, the RX 9070 GRE by 400 yuan to 4,999 yuan, and the RX 9060 XT 16GB by 600 yuan to 4,899 yuan. The RX 9060 XT 8GB went up by 300 yuan to 3,390 yuan, while the RX 9070 XT stayed at 6,999 yuan.
For board partners, the cut leaves fewer chips to build cards with. Brands that sell Radeon cards in China, from Sapphire, PowerColor and XFX to local makers such as Yeston, cannot ship products without GPU allocations, and MyDrivers said dealers have little stock to sell. Partners that also sell Nvidia cards have no easy fallback, since GeForce supply is tight as well.
Channel sources now expect another rise of about 10% this month, tied to the cost of the GDDR6 memory kits AMD supplies with its chips, although AMD has not confirmed it. Street prices dipped below list during the Double 11 shopping festival, with the RX 9070 XT selling from 6,699 yuan and the RX 9070 from 5,299 yuan on JD.com. With partner allocations falling, retailers have less stock to discount, and dealers have reportedly kept their margins rather than cutting prices further.
No new Radeon generation is due before the shortage is expected to end
AMD has no new gaming architecture lined up to ease the squeeze. Its next generation, widely referred to as RDNA 5, is unlikely to debut before Computex 2027, according to a leaker cited by IT Home, and AMD has not announced a launch window. The RX 9000 series, built on TSMC’s 4nm-class N4P process, will remain AMD’s only current Radeon line-up through the period Board Channels expects supply to stay tight.
The report covers China only, and TalkEsport has not seen equivalent reports of Radeon allocation cuts in Europe, North America or India. Memory costs are a global problem, however, and they have already pushed up prices elsewhere, from Valve’s Steam Machine to consoles. Sony has also faced questions over whether RAM shortages could affect the PS6. Board Channels expects AMD’s supply in China to stay very tight until January 2027.
