NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 Launch Sparks Global Frenzy; Japan Faces Turbulent Release and Retailers Worldwide Report Scarce Inventory

The buzz around NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090 launch has turned into a whirlwind of chaos, leaving eager buyers scrambling amidst shockingly low stock levels and growing frustration.

With the release of NVIDIA’s much-anticipated flagship, the RTX Blackwell GPU, the demand has skyrocketed, but the available stock is alarmingly insufficient, causing disappointment among many buyers who were looking forward to the launch day. We alerted our followers about NVIDIA’s announcement—forewarning that the initial batch of the RTX Blackwell GPUs would have limited availability. Despite this, it looks like consumer excitement reached unprecedented heights. As a result, “inventory chaos” has hit retailers globally, with an intriguing scenario unfolding in Japan. A report from @sarasteam0151 highlighted the frenzy among Japanese consumers, who, in their eagerness to snag an RTX 5090, caused chaos, including an incident where an individual went so far as to climb the fence of a nearby kindergarten.

In response to the high demand, Japanese retailers devised a “lottery” system to offer early purchasers a fair shot at getting a GPU and to thwart scalping practices. Unfortunately, this plan backfired, as disorder erupted among early buyers, leading some to desperate, and perhaps irrational, actions.

Across the ocean in the U.S., the situation is equally dire. Reports suggest prominent tech stores like MicroCenter are only receiving a minuscule number of RTX 5090 units, sometimes as few as four. This scarcity prompted avid fans to camp outside stores days before the launch, making it near impossible for the average consumer to snag a unit. The reality is stark for fans eager to upgrade to the RTX Blackwell right away, but that’s the state of affairs presently.

For those curious as to why stocks are so limited, it primarily stems from NVIDIA’s choice to incorporate GDDR7 memory modules, a decision at the core of this shortage. On top of that, AIB partners facing narrow profit margins with the RTX 50 series GPUs are aiming to sell above the recommended retail prices, further contributing to the launch bedlam. We suggest buyers stay patient and wait for inventories to stabilize, which might take several weeks. By then, there could also be competition with AMD’s RX 9070 series GPUs entering the scene, potentially easing availability issues.