AMD Radeon RX 6800/XT supplies leak looks bleak

AMD and Nvidia have been rivals for a long time in the graphics card arena. From one generation to the next they have competed fiercely over the years. As we near the end of 2020 we have the interesting battle between RDNA 2 and Ampere as the main event. However, there is a competition on the sidelines that is just as interesting in some ways – which graphics cards designer can make the biggest mess of their launch? This contest is like a slow bike race for modern tech.

Some evidence of just how constricted supplies are, for would be AMD Radeon RX 6800 and 6800 XT buyers,  comes via a leak of order/supplies data from Danish tech store Proshop. The leaked data was shared by this weekend by TechEpihany (via NotebookCheck).

The above chart shows Proshop's situation with regard to supply/demand for Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards. The table appears to show that there are 506 customer orders and 1,909 wholesale orders for RX 6800 XT graphics cards of various brands with just nine (9) confirmed to be arriving. So far Proshop has only had 25 of these cards arrive and sold to users.

The situation for the cheaper Radeon RX 6800 is similarly dire. It appears that there are 67 customer orders and 2,213 wholesale orders to satisfy but only 13 known to be incoming. So far Proshop has had 100 RX 6800 cards arrive and be sold on. It is worth mentioning that Proshop isn't a minor player, it is said to be Denmark's largest online tech retailer.

Please remember that this is a leak and there is a possibility that the information may not be genuine.

If you are in the unfortunate situation where you want to buy a new GPU imminently then it is hard to know what to recommend. Perhaps mid tier next gen products slated to arrive before 2020 is out will have much better supplies. Meanwhile, YouTube tech channel Hardware Unboxed says AMD has told it partner cards will be in greater supply and be selling at MSRPs in the next 4 to 8 weeks.