Amazon sold 60% fewer CPUs than a year ago, pointing to a stalled PC refresh cycle

[Daniel Sims]

In a nutshell: Fresh data from Amazon's US website points to a sharp slowdown in desktop CPU sales, with socketed processors falling off a cliff. The decline isn't uniform, though. A handful of older AMD chips tied to previous motherboard platforms are actually seeing renewed interest, a signal that soaring DDR5 prices driven by AI demand have become the real choke point for PC upgrades.

According to figures compiled by TechEpiphany, Amazon sold about 26,100 CPUs in the US in January 2026. AMD's X3D lineup continues to dominate, pushing the company's market share to an eye-popping 88 percent. But look closer and the story shifts from competitive wins to supply constraints: AI data centers are soaking up DRAM, and consumer hardware is paying the price.

A year-over-year comparison from German outlet 3DCenter underscores the slump. Combined AMD and Intel CPU sales on Amazon fell 59% from January 2025, when the two companies moved 63,840 units. December 2025 was little better, posting a 46% drop compared to December 2024. Market share hasn't changed much, but absolute sales have cratered.

Amazon CPU sales Dec 2024 - Jan 2026, based on data by @TechEpiphanyYT
Market shares remain largely unchanged, but absolute unit sales are alarmingly low. Amazon USA has now sold – 59% fewer CPUs between January 2025 and January 2026.https://t.co/xSHPKlwNAb pic.twitter.com/JuuuQaRgyM

– 3DCenter.org (@3DCenter_org) February 12, 2026

At the top of the charts, AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D remains the uncontested gaming favorite, accounting for nearly 20% of all processors sold in January. AMD claimed 17 of the top 20 spots overall. Intel, by contrast, continued a slow slide that played out across 2024, with its share of both revenue and unit sales shrinking to just 11% last month.

AMD's 3D V-Cache tech continues to prove wildly popular – the vertically stacked L3 memory technology that delivers sizable gains in gaming performance. It has helped AMD capture some 42% of the desktop CPU market. Intel's Core Ultra chips still lack a direct counterpart, though the company is expected to introduce big Last-Level Cache, dubbed bLLC, with its upcoming Nova Lake processors.

However, since AI data centers have consumed most DRAM and NAND manufacturing capacity, the prices of DDR5 RAM sticks have skyrocketed. Because Ryzen 9000 processors require DDR5, many builders are falling back to older Ryzen 5000 and even 3000-series chips, where DDR4 memory remains comparatively affordable.

That shift shows up clearly in sales data. Amazon sold nearly twice as many Ryzen 7 5800X CPUs in January 2026 as it did a year earlier. The Ryzen 5 3600, which didn't even chart in January 2025, moved roughly 200 units last month.

One of the more surprising standouts is the Ryzen 7 5800XT. The newer Zen 3 chip ranked just behind the 9800X3D on both Amazon US and Germany's Mindfactory, while also hitting third place on Amazon UK and topping the German charts outright.

The memory crunch isn't stopping at CPUs. Graphics cards are feeling the pressure, too. Trend data from PC Part Picker shows prices for Nvidia's RTX 50-series GPUs climbing again in recent weeks. Furthermore, the RTX 5070 Ti has effectively vanished, and Zotac recently expressed concerns about the survival of GPU manufacturers.

In a cryptic post, TechEpiphany recently stated that sales of graphics cards are declining sharply. "It's over," they wrote.

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Amazon sold 60% fewer CPUs than a year ago, pointing to a stalled PC refresh cycle

 

[ScottSoapbox]

There also aren’t new CPUs this year vs last.

So there is nothing to upgrade to for people with money and prices are too high for people still saving up for last year’s releases.

Intel’s upcoming release will be more telling on how much price alone is reducing demand.

 

[yRaz]

It's nice seeing how AM4 refuses to die. It's still a perfectly good platform especially for people on a budget. I wouldn't stick a 5090 in it but if going between AM4 and AM5 is the difference between getting a 5060 or a 5070, go with AM4 and stick the 5070 in there.

I think AM4 will be fondly remembered and that the current economy and RAM shortage will make it a very stubborn platform for years to come.

I recently just swapped out all the 1700 and 1800Xs for 5900Xs on all my AM4 systems. If you. I'm probably going to run them till they fail because they perform their current tasks just fine. I have a feeling that we will still see AM4 machines into the 2030s

 

[godrilla]

They also seldomly sell combo deals like Newegg and Microcenter. The reports of getting scammed from high end parts also doesn't help their credibility although the last 5080 that was reported swapped for a 5060ti, they ended up honoring the customer to keep both.

 

[manowar51]

Im literally waiting for RAM to come down to build a PC. I think a lot of people are doing that.

 

[godrilla]

Im literally waiting for RAM to come down to build a PC. I think a lot of people are doing that.

Not sure what expectations are but rumors are ram is not going back to record low prices of past year before the prices skyrocketed. They should probably be slightly better than it peaked. The best value going forward is in the combo deals for eg. Newegg has a great sale currently with about $200 off with cpu, ram and motherboard. Microcenter has similar deals. FYI.

 

[yRaz]

Im literally waiting for RAM to come down to build a PC. I think a lot of people are doing that.

Unfortunately, you're going to be waiting awhile. First the AI bubble has to pop and then the market will need a few months to adjust so that they run out of people that can just put it on the credit card. It's going to be 6 months or so after the AI crash before RAM prices start to normalize. Manufacturers will have gotten so used to the skyhigh profit margins that you better believe they will fight tooth and nail to keep them

 

[godrilla]

Update this just dropped in my feed via Tom's hardware article about Newegg upcoming Newegg Deals 9850x3d as low as $399 as well as combo deals with $350 off for cpu amd ram kits.
FYI
Newegg is about to drop 64GB of DDR5 for $499, Ryzen 7 9850X3D for $399, and more — ridiculous Doorbuster deals are back for Presidents' Day, but you'll only have seconds to buy one | Tom's Hardware https://share.google/4ipVaPI0uSvEfgIuP

 

[Starfals]

Wait till prices go up by another 50-100% on top of the current 200-300%. Im sure sales will improve even more! People already dont buy ANYTHING here. I have never seen anything like this lol. Its like Covid all over again (but that was just for GPU, now its GPU, RAM, SSD.... woohoo)

People aren't buying, cus people value their hard-earned money. Hek, people dont even buy stuff if its 50 bucks more pricey, let alone 300-1500. Thats just insanity. PC parts sold here = 25 for like the last 50 days. Whoa. Noone is getting any ram, motherboards, SSDs, SSDS and video cards. RTX 5080 jump in price big time too.

So yeah, good thing I got 15TB of SSD space and a 5080 on time. If I had to buy that now? Ho boy, my max would be like 2TB and 16GB of ram. Now I got 64. I would literally not be able to afford having so much of an OP computer. Sales really dont lie, even if companies do lie about sales. Gotta love numbers

 

[noel24]

Natural way of things.
Wait it out.
Or, "a sucker is born every minute". Your choice.

 

[OortCloud]

My 5800X3D is still going strong 4 years in! Has to be the best processor in terms of price and long-term stickability I've ever owned and I've been buying and building PC's since a 286 Model 60. (Second place goes to the Core 2 Q6600).

On the other hand could Amazon sales be down partly because less people buy PC hardware from Amazon anymore? I certainly don't use them at all now. The sites such a mess and Jeff Bezos is such a c**t I try to stay away.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

My 5800X3D is still going strong 4 years in! Has to be the best processor in terms of price and long-term stickability I've ever owned and I've been buying and building PC's since a 286 Model 60. (Second place goes to the Core 2 Q6600).

On the other hand could Amazon sales be down partly because less people buy PC hardware from Amazon anymore? I certainly don't use them at all now. The sites such a mess and Jeff Bezos is such a c**t I try to stay away.

Sales are down everywhere. Bezos Derangement Syndrome isnt anywhere near strong enough to force any sort of change.

Motherboard sales were down 50% in Q4 2025. Nobody is buying systems for these prices right now, we all know they're gouging and we're waiting for prices to drop again.

 

[TooQik]

Natural way of things.
Wait it out.
Or, "a sucker is born every minute". Your choice.

Agree 100%.

Unless you're buying hardware to support your work/job, or something fails, it's usually a desire to upgrade rather than a real need.

Patience is a virtue, FOMO isn't.

 

[OortCloud]

Agree 100%.

Unless you're buying hardware to support your work/job, or something fails, it's usually a desire to upgrade rather than a real need.

Patience is a virtue, FOMO isn't.

A lot of people on this site probably upgrade more often than they need to and know they are doing so. I certainly do. It's a hobby, we enjoy trying the latest technology, and my entire family benefit from free tech upgrades as a result of my hand-me-downs. It's not FOMO, its enjoying seeing the technology advance etc etc. Although over the last decade I upgrade way less as the performance improvements are becoming less and less pronounced.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

Unfortunately, you're going to be waiting awhile. First the AI bubble has to pop and then the market will need a few months to adjust so that they run out of people that can just put it on the credit card. It's going to be 6 months or so after the AI crash before RAM prices start to normalize. Manufacturers will have gotten so used to the skyhigh profit margins that you better believe they will fight tooth and nail to keep them

So...I can wait 6 months or a year for the bubble to burst. I can actually wait as long as prices are stupid. The crypto bubble finally did burst and brought GPU prices back down to normal...for awhile. But with patience the prices will come back down on all components. There's just no way around that as market saturation occurs from the people still buying during these stupid price eras.

 

[Kashim]

Unfortunately, you're going to be waiting awhile. First the AI bubble has to pop and then the market will need a few months to adjust so that they run out of people that can just put it on the credit card. It's going to be 6 months or so after the AI crash before RAM prices start to normalize. Manufacturers will have gotten so used to the skyhigh profit margins that you better believe they will fight tooth and nail to keep them

Yes, it may take 6 months or more after the AI crash for prices to come down, but the problem is that it might take YEARS before the AI bubble pops. It won't happen overnight, since all the big spenders will do everything they can to keep their house of cards from crumbling and drag out their collapse as long as possible.

Even after the AI crash, prices most likely won't drop very fast. Memory manufacturers would rather reduce production capacity to create artificial shortages than give up their juicy profit margins. They've done this many times before when prices dropped too low for their liking. Even now, you don't see any articles about any of the big names increasing capacity to meet demand. They'd rather just keep demand as high as possible and rake in the profits.

 

[Tantor]

Pent up demand is increasing. When the cache enabled Nova Lake chips come out, I predict a huge sales bump for Intel.

 

[yRaz]

Yes, it may take 6 months or more after the AI crash for prices to come down, but the problem is that it might take YEARS before the AI bubble pops. It won't happen overnight, since all the big spenders will do everything they can to keep their house of cards from crumbling and drag out their collapse as long as possible.

Even after the AI crash, prices most likely won't drop very fast. Memory manufacturers would rather reduce production capacity to create artificial shortages than give up their juicy profit margins. They've done this many times before when prices dropped too low for their liking. Even now, you don't see any articles about any of the big names increasing capacity to meet demand. They'd rather just keep demand as high as possible and rake in the profits.

and that means it is up to the individual to decide whether or not they need to spend the extra bucks on a new system or ram. I can only tell people what I think the market might do, I can't tell them how to spend their money.

 

[loki1944]

Not sure what expectations are but rumors are ram is not going back to record low prices of past year before the prices skyrocketed. They should probably be slightly better than it peaked. The best value going forward is in the combo deals for eg. Newegg has a great sale currently with about $200 off with cpu, ram and motherboard. Microcenter has similar deals. FYI.View attachment 90781

Well yeah once corporate greed gers a taste of what it can truly milk it doesn't go back unless it loses money.

 

[mammoth30]

When a GPU nowdays cost as much as a second hand car no one want to build a new PC....

 

[bviktor]

Whatevs. Rocking a 3900X, still no reason to upgrade whatsoever.

 

[vicsrealms]

After my planned RAM purchase went from $149 dollars to $500 dollars. The jump from my 7 year old 3900x to my newer 5800x seemed appropriate. Until things cool down, I will wait for more upgrades as necessary.

 

[godrilla]

Well yeah once corporate greed gers a taste of what it can truly milk it doesn't go back unless it loses money.

True because their is so much margins on PC parts right now it's literally up to the community to shed light on great deals for potential buyers to put pressure on those greedy basterds and scalpers. If potential buyers aren't buying from the top they'll have no choice but to lower prices. Rinse repeat! This is what drives me baby!

 

[Mark Fuller]

Im literally waiting for RAM to come down to build a PC. I think a lot of people are doing that.

I tell you, on a pragmatic level, maybe a used pc from a thriftshop with some upgrades and a linux installation may be the solution if you really don't need so much in the first place. They are perfectly capable for most things for most people, and not very expensive.

 

[toooooot]

I feel like laptops will become a lot more popular in the next few years. Specifically, the ones with decent graphics.