AMD's Frank Azor insists the Radeon 9070 and 9070 XT will be sold at MSRP despite reports of imminent price hike

[DragonSlayer101]

In context: AMD's Radeon RX 9000 series cards went on sale Thursday, starting at $549 for the RX 9070 and $599 for the RX 9070 XT. Following the launch, some retailers suggested that these new cards would only be available at MSRP for a limited time. However, AMD has denied these reports, stating that certain RX 9000 models will continue to be sold at the recommended prices even after initial stock runs out.

AMD's Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions Frank Azor categorically denied that the $549 / $599 MSRPs are launch-only pricing, in a statement to The Verge. According to him, the company has collaborated with its AIB partners to ensure that "multiple vendors" will continue selling at least some variants of the cards at those prices.

Azor added that, alongside the base models, manufacturers will also offer overclocked versions with premium configurations at higher prices to cater to different user needs. He further claimed that AMD is working with its partners to maintain a steady supply of RX 9000 cards in the coming weeks.

Ready for you pic.twitter.com/S66imJtiXN

– Frank Azor (@AzorFrank) March 6, 2025

Reports of a possible price increase for the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT began circulating almost immediately after launch. Swedish retailer Inet.se told VideoCardz that the recommended prices would only apply "to a limited number of cards."

Similarly, UK retailer Overclockers stated that only "a few hundred" units would be sold at MSRP, after which prices would increase.

Demand today for our new @amdradeon cards has been phenomenal. We are working with our AIBs to replenish stock at our partners ASAP in the coming days and weeks. MSRP pricing (excluding region specific tariffs and/or taxes) will continue to be encouraged beyond today so don't… pic.twitter.com/8VxGioMkev

– Frank Azor (@AzorFrank) March 6, 2025

Best Buy added further fuel to the speculation by listing the cards in a way that implied AMD's recommended prices were temporary. The retailer advertised its $549 RX 9070 SKUs with a "Save $80" banner and the $599 RX 9070 XT models with a "Save $130" sign, suggesting that prices would soon rise to $629 and $729, respectively.

The Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT have received mostly positive reviews upon release. The RX 9070 XT, in particular, was widely praised as a strong competitor to Nvidia's mid-range GPUs and a good value offering. The RX 9070 was also recognized as a better value proposition than the RTX 5070, with the potential to be a hit among gamers – provided AMD maintains a steady supply at the promised $549 price point.

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AMD's Frank Azor insists the Radeon 9070 and 9070 XT will be sold at MSRP despite reports of imminent price hike

 

[Achaios]

AMD's Frank Azor insists the Radeon 9070 and 9070 XT will be sold at MSRP despite reports of imminet price hike

Earlier, I had a look at Amazon Deutschland.

It appears that Amazon Deutschland has got zero (0) AMD 9070/9070XT cards at stock. There were just three (3) listings offering a chance to pay now and secure a 9070/9070XT GPU in April [sic]. The cards were being sold at almost 1000 Euros.

Many other entire EU countries have got exactly zero (0) 9070/9070XT cards to sell. We are not talking about Montana and New Mexico here, we are talking about entire EU countries with zero stock.

So Idc who this "Frank Azor" is but he looks like a clown to me.

 

[Kotters]

Earlier, I had a look at Amazon Deutschland.

It appears that Amazon Deutschland has got zero (0) AMD 9070/9070XT cards at stock. There were just three (3) listings offering a chance to pay now and secure a 9070/9070XT GPU in April [sic]. The cards were being sold at almost 1000 Euros.

Many other entire EU countries have got exactly zero (0) 9070/9070XT cards to sell. We are not taling about Montana and New Mexico here, we are talking about entire EUY countries with zero stock.

So Idc who this "Frank Azor" is but he looks like a clown to me.

Amazon is generally a bad place for new PC parts at launch. Did you try other retailers?

Frank Azor is the head marketing guy for AMD. You should know who he is, though you are correct he's a clown. Whatever he says, the opposite is likely true or going to occur.

 

[SalaSSin]

In Belgium and Netherlands I see the cards in local shops priced at 800€ and 900€ vat included (21%) minimum for the 9070 & 9070 xt respectively, delivery in april theoretically

Question to Techspot, the 550$ & 600$ MSRP in US, is that vat included or not?

 

[Achaios]

Amazon is generally a bad place for new PC parts at launch. Did you try other retailers?

Frank Azor is the head marketing guy for AMD. You should know who he is, though you are correct he's a clown. Whatever he says, the opposite is likely true or going to occur.

Ye, I did.

Tons of 9070/9070XT on Ebay.de priced between Euro 1k-2k. No cards in stock in major German retailers.

 

[fadingfool]

In Belgium and Netherlands I see the cards in local shops priced at 800€ and 900€ vat included (21%) minimum for the 9070 & 9070 xt respectively, delivery in april theoretically

Question to Techspot, the 550$ & 600$ MSRP in US, is that vat included or not?

Ex-VAT (or sales tax as the left-pondians call it)

 

[Hosswine]

As far as the MSPR prices (and tariffs) it depends on what the market will bear. While many of these cards are made in China, not all of them are. The end product is made in an assembly plant. Assembly plants can be relocated. Also, a $600 card sells very quickly. Most graphics cards are not sold directly to consumers, they packed into pre-built systems. The higher end cards find their way into these systems, but are often discounted from retail price---when the buyer is HP or Dell they get the bulk discount.

I have my own gripes (mostly about my cancelled Newegg order yesterday.)

For the time period, I am counting on the board partners to crank out new cards as fast as AMD can get them chips. Let's face it, EVGA quit making video cards because 1) Nvidia sucks to deal with as a supplier and 2) product margins were too low compared to their other products. It's a lot more profitable to make power supplies for these thirsty beasts than the graphics cards themselves. We need the board partners to be profitable, otherwise they will abandon this business!

Also: guys, a $500 graphics card in 2020 is $625 in today's dollars. MSRP is really reasonable for the performance. An OC Card going for low $700s is still a really good deal.

 

[Hosswine]

In Belgium and Netherlands I see the cards in local shops priced at 800€ and 900€ vat included (21%) minimum for the 9070 & 9070 xt respectively, delivery in april theoretically

Question to Techspot, the 550$ & 600$ MSRP in US, is that vat included or not?

There is no VAT in the US and no Federal sales tax. Most (but not all) states have state (and sometimes local) sales tax. The highest this gets is a little over 10%. I think the national average is around 6%.

Sales tax is not included in the MSRP here typically. You see the sales tax on online sales when you check out. There was a court ruling a few years ago (involving Wayfair, a popular online home furnishing retailer) that mandates online sellers to collect sales taxes for the customer's address.

 

[Hosswine]

Ye, I did.

Tons of 9070/9070XT on Ebay.de priced between Euro 1k-2k. No cards in stock in major German retailers.

Scalping is happening in the US as well. Only time and plentiful restocking will deter them. The online retailers don't seem to care here. The only way to get a card at reasonable prices is to physically buy them at a chain called Micro Center, which only will sell these in their stores. Unfortunately, many markets in the US are hundreds of kilometers from the nearest Micro Center. Even these stores have depleted most of their stock from the launch already.

 

[yRaz]

I appreciate the effort, but I have a "I'll believe it when I see it" mentality

 

[jbc029]

He can "encourage" all he wants. It's AMD's marketing department saying "blame the AIBs for the high prices, not us". Throwing your business partners under the bus. Stay classy, AMD.

 

[yRaz]

He can "encourage" all he wants. It's AMD's marketing department saying "blame the AIBs for the high prices, not us". Throwing your business partners under the bus. Stay classy, AMD.

Is he wrong? If you say you "you can sell 80%of our chips at whatever price you want as long as 20% are sold at MSRP" is he really wrong? Who was the bad partner first, the one breaking the MSRP agreement or the one saying "don't blame us, we told partners they need to sell atleast 20% at MSRP"

 

[brucek]

I shopped Best Buy, New Egg, and Amazon at moment of launch and never saw the $599 price in stock. In Reddit threads about launch experience I remember seeing many claims of New Egg voided orders, some claims of successful purchases at $700 and up, and no claims of success at $599 (but obviously I didn't see every thread/comment.)

The bright spot is Microcenter where in-person shoppers generally seemed much more satisfied than anywhere else. Unfortunately I do not any within driving distance of where I live.

 

[brucek]

I wonder if there are any partnerships or other arrangements whereby TechSpot could obtain reliable market data such as units sold, at what price, and availability data such as what % of time a given retailer has a given model in stock. It's increasingly obvious the manufacturer provided data is worthless or downright deceptive. It'd be great if the media could stop using fiction and start reporting, and basing all its consumer guides, only on actual real world data.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Many other entire EU countries have got exactly zero (0) 9070/9070XT cards to sell. We are not talking about Montana and New Mexico here, we are talking about entire EU countries with zero stock.

So Idc who this "Frank Azor" is but he looks like a clown to me.

My local Best Buy in Montana had one of each in stock, kinda wild for us. I bet AMD prioritized USA stock over EU.

 

[bl4C3y3]

I wonder if there are any partnerships or other arrangements whereby TechSpot could obtain reliable market data such as units sold, at what price, and availability data such as what % of time a given retailer has a given model in stock. It's increasingly obvious the manufacturer provided data is worthless or downright deceptive. It'd be great if the media could stop using fiction and start reporting, and basing all its consumer guides, only on actual real world data.

yes, that would be very interesting, even if the sources need to stay anonymous.
but might very well possible that the sources are not allowed to communicate or under NDA ?
still, mindfactory from germany shows 'units sold' on their site ... which is not a lot of info, but useful.

these 'deliberately un-precise declared' numbers are just not saying anything
considerable amount, sizable, significant, generous, quite a few, ...

 

[brucek]

yes, that would be very interesting, even if the sources need to stay anonymous.
but might very well possible that the sources are not allowed to communicate or under NDA ?
still, mindfactory from germany shows 'units sold' on their site ... which is not a lot of info, but useful.

these 'deliberately un-precise declared' numbers are just not saying anything
considerable amount, sizable, significant, generous, quite a few, ...

There are B2B research firms that service most markets offering detailed market data using all available research means including interviews, confidential sources, website scraping, government filings, store visits, consumer surveys, etc etc. I'm not sure who the leading firms are for the consumer GPU space. Of course firms like this charge high prices for their detailed reports and databases, but sometimes they are willing to release summary information for publicity purposes (I.e., Nielsen for TV ratings.)

 

[passwordistaco]

Where are the "Made by AMD" cards at MSRP, Frank?

 

[cfenton]

If they wanted to have MSRP cards in stock they would have made reference cards. They didn't, so clearly they aren't serious about keeping cards at MSRP.

I have no idea why the GPU industry continues to rely on middlemen when they've proven they can make good cards without them.

 

[jbc029]

Is he wrong? If you say you "you can sell 80%of our chips at whatever price you want as long as 20% are sold at MSRP" is he really wrong? Who was the bad partner first, the one breaking the MSRP agreement or the one saying "don't blame us, we told partners they need to sell atleast 20% at MSRP"

If they priced out initially against a $650/$750 msrp, then AMD makes a public statement gutting margins...they're screwed. With no reference card, there's no responsibility for the chip maker to adhere to stated msrp. They'll say whatever gets the hype going and shift funds to cover initial rebates. Things like that won't last.

 

[Watzupken]

Ye, I did.

Tons of 9070/9070XT on Ebay.de priced between Euro 1k-2k. No cards in stock in major German retailers.

No cards because supply is poor versus, no cards because people bought it to scalp are 2 different things. Looking at the graphic card shortage situation due to Nvidia's incompetence, scalpers will do whatever to buy as many GPU as possible to resell for a good profit. You may ask, why blame it on Nvidia? Nvidia supplies the most GPUs in general because demand for their GPUs is very strong. Before they pulled the plug on Ada GPUs last year, they should have considered this age old problem where new GPU supply is always very limited, and it seems even more so with Blackwell. So why stop production of Ada that early when there is hardly any RTX 5090, 5080 and 5070 Ti? Because they will increase prices and have you buy these marginally better cards at higher prices. The MSRP is just a smoke screen to make us think that the price looks attractive and then proceed to blame it on AIB. I don't believe Nvidia's FE cards are sold in great quantities, plus because they produce these chips, so they don't have to pay a premium like AIBs to use these chips. So there are cost advantage for Nvidia to allow them to sell FE cards at MSRP.

 

[Watzupken]

If they wanted to have MSRP cards in stock they would have made reference cards. They didn't, so clearly they aren't serious about keeping cards at MSRP.

I have no idea why the GPU industry continues to rely on middlemen when they've proven they can make good cards without them.

That's because they may not want to be involved in the nuances of distributing worldwide, and the after sales services obligations tied to it. Nvidia for example offers FE cards in select markets, and not worldwide. So they "outsourced" these work to AIBs who will have the distribution expertise and channels + handle any after sales service. So Nvidia deals with AIB for RMA request for example, and not having to deal with the millions of people that bought their card from all parts of the world. In doing so, Nvidia does not lose anything because they will sell their GPUs to AIBs for profit (I believe the profit margin is very high). Which is why you may have seen news where AIBs are complaining that Nvidia is trying to bankrupt them at the MSRP that Nvidia suggested. To Nvidia that produces the GPU and sold by themselves, they can afford to price it lower, wherein AIBs already are burdened by the margin that Nvidia imposed on them (and I also believe the price AIB gets depends on their tiering, I.e. how Nvidia loyal they are). The cost that AIB then have to shoulder includes distribution and after sales support, on top of the cost of producing their cards with all sorts of fancy features.

 

[scoffer]

Better to let them rot on the scalping retailers' shelves. Don't buy a graphics card unless you really NEED to -not just because you're worried about FOMO. Let the retailers piss their pants fretting....

 

[Thatsdisgusting]

MSTP and all that stuff is great, but what about AIB price gouging?

 

[OortCloud]

The 9070 XT is over-priced. It's a midrange card. Unfortunately since nVidia stopped making new cards and just started charging more and more for very little AMD feel they can follow suit. It's the best card at it's price but its still over-priced. As for the 9070...its $200 over-priced.