Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU prices in Japan run up to 41.1% above Amazon US

Japanese listings show uneven increases

A Reddit post from user u/Chaise91 on r/pcmasterrace shared a photo of Japanese retail prices for Nvidia RTX 50-series graphics cards. The comparison used Amazon U.S. listings and an exchange rate of JPY 153.38 per USD 1.

On a pre-tax basis, average gaps were 12.71% for the RTX 5080, 20.51% for the RTX 5070 Ti, 19.69% for the RTX 5070, 25.19% for the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, and 41.10% for the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB. With a representative 8.5% U.S. sales tax rate applied, the average gaps were 3.88%, 11.07%, 10.32%, 15.38% and 30.04% respectively.

Individual models were uneven. The Asus Dual RTX 5060 Ti 8GB GDDR7 White OC Edition was listed at 118,800 yen, or $774.55, versus $548.94 on Amazon U.S., a 41.10% pre-tax difference and 30.04% after the tax assumption. The Asus Prime RTX 5070 Ti 16GB GDDR7 OC Edition showed 41.15% before tax, while the Asus TUF Gaming RTX 5070 12GB OC Edition showed 38.27%.

Supply pressure points to AI demand

The report ties the squeeze to the memory chip shortage and massive demand for AI compute, citing reports that Nvidia is planning to halt RTX 5090 production in favor of AI data center and professional GPUs. It says high-end GPU supply has vanished online, with third-party sellers demanding almost $10,000. The shared image did not show the RTX 5090, which the report reads as a possible sign that Japanese retailers no longer have that card in stock.

Japan is usually more expensive for GPUs than the U.S., but the report says the increases still bite for the mainstream RTX 5070 Ti and below. It also recalls last year's limits on SSD, HDD and RAM purchases in Japanese shops and rationing of GPUs with 16GB VRAM and up when resupply shipments failed to arrive on time. The article warns that the trend could travel westward and suggests buyers tracking deals should not delay indefinitely.

Sources: Tom's Hardware