The graphics card market is about to experience a significant shift in demand. Board manufacturers in Taiwan like Gigabyte and MSI are bracing themselves for a 40% drop in shipments by the end of April, according to a report that cites anonymous industry sources.
Although the cryptocurrency mining fad suffered a slight dent, this is still not a sufficient explanation for why these manufacturers believe that their demand will be cut nearly in half.
The truth may lie somewhere between the decreased demand for mining in general and the appearance of ASICs that are starting to become more financially feasible.
Bitmain’s Ethereum mining rigs are expected to come in July, and they sport similar parameters to six high-performing GPUs for the price of one. In fact, the release was delayed because the manufacturer was disappointed with that level of efficiency and wants to ship out units that pack even more performance per cycle.
The idea of ASIC mining in some cryptocurrencies is under attack, however, as Ethereum might adopt a proof-of-stake model with a cap on circulation. This would effectively render any sort of mining equipment a useless investment.
Because of the uncertainty behind the future of Ethereum, a blockchain that many smaller miners find more profitable than Bitcoin’s, there’s no way to reliably predict just how much equipment will be sold in the near future.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which is responsible for producing most of the chips used in ASICs today, boasted significant profits towards the end of 2017 and in the first quarter of 2018, but has concerns about future profits due to this new territory. With producers themselves pointing to the uncertainty in their markets, it is unclear whether GPU manufacturers will find themselves returning to predominantly gamer-oriented segments or remaining in the crypto industry as well.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
