Expensive board: demand for PC graphics cards has increased significantly in Russia
Russians are massively buying video cards for PCs. In the fall, compared to the summer of this year, their sales increased from 20 to 400% on various trading platforms. And the record dynamics was shown by St. Petersburg, where Wildberries recorded a nine-fold increase in turnover for this category of goods. Modern graphics cards are needed by both gamers and those who work on PCs with graphics or use them for machine learning and artificial intelligence. Buyers are stocking up on video cards for the future, expecting price increases and shortages associated with the active development of neural networks. At the same time, the demand for electronics in the Russian Federation is now declining.
How the demand for graphics cards is growing
The consequences of the rapid development of AI—based technologies have reached Russian computer stores - users began to buy PC graphics cards for future use, fearing rising prices for them. Representatives of retailers and trading platforms told Izvestia about this.
In the fall of 2025, compared with the summer, sales of these components at Wildberries in units increased by 124%, Wildberries & Russ told Izvestia. Compared to the autumn of 2024, the increase was about 400%. Even against the background of such impressive figures, St. Petersburg stands out.
— Video card sales at Wildberries in St. Petersburg are showing record dynamics this fall. Compared to last year, the turnover growth exceeded 800%, it surpasses the all-Russian figures. The average receipt for a video card in St. Petersburg has increased by 21% since last year," said a representative of the marketplace.
In "M.Video-Eldorado" during the same period, card sales increased by 20%, the united retailer reported. And if we compare the first three quarters of 2025 with the same period in 2024, the growth was 60%.
Sales of video cards from Refrigerator also increased by 25-30% in the fall.<url>," said Alexey Pogudalov, the company's commercial director. Compared to the autumn of 2024, the growth is more significant and is estimated at 40-50%. This is due to the normalization of logistics chains, increased supply and saturation of the market after periods of deficit in previous years, he noted.
Avito's autumn video card sales increased by 64% year-on-year and by 19% compared to the summer season, the company said. Demand for some Nvidia GeForce models has increased by 70%. The growing interest in these models is associated with the seasonal update of home PCs, as well as with the autumn sales, representatives of the platform believe.
Sales of video cards are growing against the background of the fact that the market for traditional electronics (tablets, smartphones, laptops) is declining — their sales have fallen by about 20% over the year, said Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group.
According to the electronics manufacturer Fplus, video cards in Russia have risen in price by an average of 15-20% over the year. This is largely due to the boom in generative artificial intelligence.
— Data centers require very large amounts of memory to train neural networks, and global manufacturers are still unable to cope with such demand. As a result, we are seeing a global increase in prices for memory chips, which leads to an increase in the cost of video cards," explained a company representative.
An increase in the price of video cards will lead to higher costs for key consumer categories: gamers, users of graphics workstations, as well as companies developing in the field of machine learning and AI, he believes. Some consumers are now switching to more affordable alternatives, such as previous generations of video cards and budget products from Chinese brands, Fplus added.
The fashion for neural networks is boosting demand for components
Market participants have already told Izvestia that the growing interest in AI provokes a shortage of PC components and rising prices for them. For example, in November it became known that due to the increase in prices for RAM, selling prices for desktops and laptops have already increased - in retail, the increase in the cost of this equipment may amount to about 10%. Gadgets purchased at new prices are already being shipped to Russia and will appear on shelves after the New Year, market participants noted in November.
Artificial intelligence-related services require hardware, such as servers equipped with modern memory. Its manufacturers are increasing shipments of such chips, and the production of modules of previous generations, which are used in PCs and laptops and which are more expensive, is decreasing: hence their shortage and rising prices, experts noted.
The same thing happens with video cards — the chips installed in them are necessary for calculations on which the work of neural networks is based, said Vladimir Zykov, director of the Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers.
— High—performance cards are expensive - thousands of dollars, but the demand for them from digital companies is huge now. The price of such a product directly depends on the cost of components, in particular memory (GDDR, Flash), which has recently become more expensive due to the redistribution of capacity towards more demanding AI accelerators and the transition to new technologies. This creates additional pressure on the cost and prices of simpler models. Therefore, PC users buy them in advance, fearing price increases, said Vladimir Zykov.
In addition, NAND chips are also in short supply - these are microcircuits in which data is physically stored: files, games, databases, etc., in fact, a flash drive, only faster and more complicated, the expert added. Manufacturers attribute the shortage of chips to the active expansion of data centers of large cloud companies, to which memory manufacturers give priority - as a result, the cost of ready—made PCs increases sharply, he said.
"Customers are increasingly choosing video cards for several years ahead, focusing on performance, energy efficiency and versatility of solutions," said M.Video—Eldorado.
At the same time, the company cites other factors that determine the growth in demand for video cards: the popularity of gaming and a steady interest in high-performance solutions, the development of the desktop computer segment (many users assemble or update systems for modern games and professional tasks), and an increase in the number of users working with graphics, video, and AI tools. M.Video-Eldorado also notes the expansion of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series video card line.
The demand for video cards is also driven by the development of the domestic IT sector and the gaming industry, Alexey Pogudalov added. The growing performance requirements for working with Russian software for designing, modeling, and video editing, as well as the launch of new localized and online games, are stimulating demand for high-performance graphics cards, he concluded.
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