Japan does not want to run out of its abundant offer of cheap graphics cards. So they have been forbidden to tourists

Time flies. PS5 and Xbox Series They already touch the five years in the market, and Nintendo Switch 2 It is at the corner. Meanwhile, the world of the PC follows another rhythm: every year New components arrive And, with them, increasingly exorbitant prices. An example is that of Nvidia graphics cards with some RTX 5000 that had risen in price (and They keep doing it).

And it is not only a price problem, but also of scarcity. Because there are some markets in which the high demand for these high -end cards It has become a problem. But it is a market that goes to two speeds. In Japan the TEMPORARY OF THE SCARKbecoming an ideal country for foreigners to buy a GPU if they go on vacation. Your solution? Prohibit sale of graphics cards to tourists.

But let’s see why you can find high -end graphics in Japan to prices that are not absurd And why these measures seem more deterrent than high feasible.

Japan does not want to run out of graphics cards

The reason for that scarcity has several explanations. The Last generation GPU They are ideal to enjoy the games, but also for setting up pointers for the Artificial Intelligence Training. It seems that the market does not give a respite to the GPUs, since a few years ago the shortage problem was due to the cryptocurrency mining and semiconductor crisis.

There is Other factors that can alter the availability in the market, such as more recent tariffsbut the truth is that the problem of finding one in stores at a price without inflates due to that scarcity It is something that has dragged Nvidia for some time. But this, as we say, is something that does not affect everyone and it is a situation that is hittingabove all, to the United States.

And, as we see in Redditwhen someone from a country in which prices are in the clouds or, directly, there are no units of certain models of graphics go to a country like Japan where there are, they wonder why. The answer is complex and I consider that it goes beyond the simple “because in other countries we are not willing to pay for a GPU which costs a second -hand car”, as has been given in the same Reddit thread.

The first, some Japanese retailers know that there is a problem of scarcity in other territories and that tourists can take advantage of the trip to take a graphics card. That is why, in some stores, posters have been hung by warning that Only certain resident models in Japan are sold. The effectiveness of this measure has been discussed and it is said that there are stores that only show the poster as a deterrent, but also that others are Starting to ask that buyers demonstrate that they are residents in the country.

The red poster says something as “the purchase of this product is limited to residents in Japan. The purchase for resale is strictly prohibited.”

But this does not go so much against the tourist who takes the opportunity to take a GPU, but against which he buys units systematically for the resale, and here China is put in the spotlight. Due to the impossibility of buying the latest Nvidia graphics in the Asian giant for the Commercial War with the United States and the different vetoesand thanks to the proximity between China and Japan, a practice seems to be visiting and filling the suitcase with graphics that They are shown in the Asian giant.

Question of cultural preferences

That is one of the reasons why there are graphics in Japan, but another can directly be cultural and preferably of Japanese players. The size of the housing is a huge condition for certain hobbys, and playing on a PC is one of those affected. A laptop enters anywhere, but these graphs are used to mount towers and a space is needed for the entire Setup.

It seems like a drawer, but we are talking about the average house size in Japan has reached its lowest level in 30 years. The average is 92 square meters and, in the cities where more population is concentrated, talk later of 50 square meters. It is a space incompatible with mounting a pC of desktop and, although it is a fact that the number of PC players has grown Significantly in the last decade, it is not known how many correspond to the match in laptop and how many atmosphere.

In 2015 it is estimated that there were 11 million PC players, a figure that increase up to 16 million in 2023, and AMD is also contributing To this. It is a fact that is not bad, but the console market is still above, representing about 20% of the total video game market. Here has a lot to do with Nintendo Switch which has been sold as hot bread in Japan. Since its launch, of the total 152 million units worldwide, I know esteem that only in Japan more than 35 million have been sold.

In fact, in 2021, of 100% of consoles sold in Japan, Calculate that Switch represented just over 78%, which clearly shows the preference for portable game. Now, the system that really dominates in the country is the mobile as a game device, with a My dear 66% of the total. Here, as we said, cultural preferences are mixed, that taste for portable platforms and the little space in the houses of the cities in which The bulk of the country accumulates.

And all that can give us the answer of why there are high -end graphics cards available in Japan and why the price is not inflated. Or everything may be much simpler and, as they commented on Reddit, in many countries there is no shortage because they are not going to pay for a GPU the same as because of A second -hand car.

Although that second -hand car market would have to be seen, which also It has become considerably increasing.

Image | Ruindig/Yuki Uchida

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