Volatility in HPC Pricing Expected to Continue

The volatile nature of HPC hardware pricing could mean as much as a 25% reduction in purchasing power in the near future.

A number of factors are contributing to what is expected to be a volatile pricing environment for high performance computing’s immediate future.

Topping the list of determining factors is the latest round of tariffs on products manufactured in China including computer components, which are expected to bring a 10% increase in price. More than 5,745 products are on the tariff list, which totals $200 billion worth of goods.

A number of our suppliers in the computer component industry have been notifying us about price increases as a result of the tariffs. You can expect the tariffs to affect HPC pricing for the remainder of 2018 and into the new year.

Another factor affecting an increase in HPC equipment pricing is the arrival of new products including GPUs such as NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2080s. Demand for new more expensive GPUs is being driven more by customers within the artificial intelligence space than it is by virtual currency miners as consumers continue their retreat from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

These pricing increases, when considered as a whole, could reduce a customer’s purchasing power for HPC hardware by as much as 25%, which brings some urgency to purchasing decisions before all of these price fluctuations take hold.

We encourage you to contact us with any questions you have at 866-802-8222.