Frenzy for new Nvidia gaming chips causes chaos in Tokyo
Tokyo CNN — An electronics store in Tokyo has apologized after hundreds of Chinese buyers who flocked there to get their hands on the latest Nvidia gaming chips brought mayhem to the neighborhood.
The ensuing commotion, which went viral on Japanese social media, was a physical manifestation of the impact of the US-China tech war on gamers looking for an upgrade and resellers catering to them.
Up to 400 people showed up last week in Akihabara — a popular shopping district for buying video games, manga and anime — hoping to snap up the US chipmaker’s latest series of GeForce RTX 50 graphics cards, according to the electronics chain PC Koubou.
The ruckus caused by buyers obstructing the pavement and trespassing on a nearby property eventually forced the outlet to cancel the sale. It apologized earlier this week.
PC Koubou said in a statement on Monday,
We formally present our deepest apologies for the great commotion that has burdened and worried our customers, neighboring communities and related parties,
Taizo Hashida, a director at Unitcom, the company that owns the chain, told CNN on Wednesday that about 90% of the hopeful buyers were Chinese-speaking customers.
The new graphics cards, launched on January 30 and sought after feverishly by game enthusiasts, promise better processing speeds and image rendering ability. That means they provide better visuals and a smoother gaming experience.
But the series is not available in China, which is subject to US export restrictions on advanced computer chips. The measures are part of Washington’s efforts to prevent its rivals from accessing the advanced technology that can power artificial intelligence (AI) systems and weapons development.
Chinese gamers say they are getting what they call a “castrated version” of Nvidia’s latest release. The company has created a modified version with a slower AI component exclusively for the Chinese market. The discrepancy has driven up demand for the current generation in places like Japan.
Gil Luria, head of tech research at investment group D.A. Davidson, said the US restrictions apply to the latest cards because they can be used to develop AI tools.
He said.
For diehard gamers, the difference between the allowed chips and restricted chips can be meaningful, which is why they may be seeking them in other markets,
Chaotic scenes
Last Thursday, PC Koubou offered to sell dozens of the GeForce series, including 10 of the top RTX 5090 chips and 47 RTX 5080 chips, to those who had won a lottery at its Akihabara store. But the turnout far exceeded their expectations, it said in the Monday statement.
Videos circulated online showed chaotic scenes near the store, with hundreds of buyers squeezing into a narrow pavement and spilling onto the road.
Calls by the staff to line up in order were ignored, with at least one man climbing over a fence to enter a nearby kindergarten, footage showed. A sign hung on a fence at the kindergarten was snapped in half, local media reported.
The store called off the sale and launched a two-day online lottery for Tuesday, with the result to be announced later.
It was not the first time Nvidia had tailored a gaming chip for the Chinese market in a bid to comply with US export controls.
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Frenzy for new Nvidia gaming chips causes chaos in Tokyo, source
