“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics,” Mark Twain famously said over a century ago. While I wouldn’t outright accuse Nvidia of deception regarding its recent statement on the ongoing shortage of GPUs, the explanation feels a bit too reliant on carefully framed statistics.
At a pre-Game Developers Conference event, Justin Walker, Nvidia’s product manager for GeForce desktop GPUs spoke. Walker asserted that twice as many RTX 50-series GPUs have been shipped within their first five weeks of availability compared to the same timeframe during the RTX 40-series launch in 2022.
Let’s assume Walker’s claim is accurate, even though no hard data has been provided. What we do have are the launch dates for reference.
- The RTX 40-series launched on October 12, 2022, with the RTX 4090 being the only available card until the RTX 4080 arrived on November 16, 2022.
- This means that within the first five weeks, only two high-end cards were in circulation.
- In contrast, the RTX 50-series launched with both the RTX 5090 and 5080 on January 30, 2025.
- The RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 followed on February 20 and March 5, 2025, respectively.
This means four different GPUs were launched within five weeks instead of just two.
RTX 50 SeriesA Misleading Comparison?
When you break it down, Nvidia technically shipped twice as many GPUs, but that’s simply because they launched twice as many SKUs. If the total production volume per SKU remains unchanged, then having more models doesn’t necessarily indicate improved availability—it’s just basic math.
Furthermore, even if the supply of RTX 5070/5070 Ti units matched that of the 5080/5090, the overall stock wouldn’t necessarily be higher per individual card. And given the persistent shortages and instant sell-outs, it doesn’t seem like Nvidia has significantly increased production to meet demand.
A Familiar Issue
Walker’s phrasing makes his claim hard to defend. If he had said, “compared to the 40 series” in general, the statement might have been more open to interpretation. But the rigid five-week comparison highlights how little has changed in Nvidia’s launch strategy.
Walker also mentioned that Nvidia is working with partners to boost availability and that shipments have already increased. However, given that these GPUs continue to sell out immediately upon listing, it’s clear that supply still lags behind demand.
Nvidia insists that more GPUs will become available at MSRP in the coming weeks—but for those trying to buy one now, that’s a gamble at best.
