Asus: Demand For GPUs Among Cryptocurrency Miners Is Drying Up

In another positive sign for the GPU market, Asus is noticing that demand for PC graphics cards from cryptocurrency miners is on the decline. 

The company’s co-CEO SY Hsu made the comment during an earnings call(Opens in a new window) on Wednesday when he was asked about how graphics cards pricing has been falling in recent weeks. 

“Because the demand for cryptocurrency mining on GPU shipments has been slowly coming down, the demand for graphics cards across the market is normalizing,” he said. 

According to Hsu, the cryptocurrency community is losing interest in buying graphics cards due to how Ethereum plans on phasing out GPU-based mining later this year. It’s a trend he expects other cryptocurrency projects to follow, citing the need to cut down on energy emissions. 

Hsu also made the comment as the value of many cryptocurrencies has been plummeting. The price of Ethereum fell to $1,770 this morning, down from $4,600 back in November. This has prompted some Ethereum miners to say(Opens in a new window) they’re retiring from the market due to the low profitability.  

But even though miners are souring on buying GPUs, prices for many products could still remain higher than normal. “Because the demand from cryptocurrency is disappearing, it’s made us wonder if the pricing for GPUs will also normalize,” Hsu said. “In reality, the demand for gaming is still strong, so we still don’t think we can necessarily meet all of the demand.” 

Others have been more optimistic on pricing for GPUs, citing the improved supplies. Last week, PC accessory maker Corsair predicted costs for desktop graphics cards will both normalize and even dip below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price in the coming weeks.