Following last week’s news about NVIDIA’s upcoming reveal of their new RTX 50 series at Computex, fresh details have emerged about a surprising staggered launch strategy. In 2024, only the RTX 5090 is set to debut, leaving the remainder of the RTX 50 lineup slated for a 2025 release. This move suggests that NVIDIA, lacking significant competition and possessing ample inventory, is prioritizing other products.
The updated information builds on previous reports, indicating that NVIDIA’s strategy is becoming clearer. A number of critical factors appear to influence Jensen Huang’s decision-making, with Computex serving as the main stage for the company’s strategy rollout, which will precede the official product presentations.
Initial Launch Focuses on RTX 5090
NVIDIA’s approach indicates a shift in strategy, likely informed by Intel and AMD’s delays and difficulties in entering the market. At Computex, while a full presentation is not anticipated, the RTX 5090 will be introduced, and key details will be shared. A follow-up event is expected to launch the GPU, showcasing new gaming innovations.
As such, the RTX 5090 will be the sole GPU launching this year, positioning NVIDIA to dominate the gaming market against AMD. This is crucial as AMD’s RX 8700 XTX is expected to compete directly with NVIDIA’s RTX 5080—but only that model.
Changes in Presentation Strategy
Rumors suggest that NVIDIA might simultaneously release both laptop versions and the upper mid-range models. The reason behind this could be the use of the same GB203 architecture for both the RTX 5080 desktop and laptop versions, resulting in similar performance levels. Consequently, NVIDIA might be planning a comprehensive launch event at CES 2025, introducing full series for both markets, rather than having disparate events.
Reasons Behind the Delay of Other GPUs
Several theories are circulating about why NVIDIA is postponing the release of other GPUs. One primary reason is the prioritization of the AI market, which offers more economic interest to TSMC, Samsung, and NVIDIA itself. Another reason relates to managing inventory—specifically, clearing out high stock levels that are not selling as expected.
For instance, NVIDIA has cleared AD103 chips for the RTX 4070, hinting that more stock will soon hit stores. This strategy aims to avoid the sales pitfalls experienced with the RTX 3060 and some RTX 30 series GPUs, which overlapped too long with the RTX 40 series, adversely affecting the latter’s sales.
Implications for Pricing
It’s not out of the question that prices might see significant reductions soon. Prices have been trending downward slowly, as observed earlier this month. AMD, too, is adopting more aggressive pricing strategies, given the competitive pressure to clear out inventory during a challenging economic period for average gamers. Ultimately, the exclusive 2024 launch of the RTX 5090 highlights the strategic moment NVIDIA is experiencing and their lack of urgency in releasing their Blackwell architecture for PC gaming.
