Amid a global shortage and rising component prices, the Taiwanese market has faced an unprecedented situation. The largest trading platform, PC Home, has completely eliminated the possibility of purchasing the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 as a standalone item. Now, buyers can access top-tier hardware exclusively as part of strange and often unprofitable bundles that include additional components of questionable value.

Absurd bundles: from Radeon to external enclosures

An analysis of PC Home's inventory shows that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 has become a tool for clearing out stagnant or less in-demand equipment. The most prominent example is a bundle combining a top-tier ASUS ProArt card with four mid-range Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics accelerators. The cost of such a set reaches $7,720, making it economically nonsensical for most users who simply want to upgrade their PC.

Other bundle options are no less exotic. Buyers are offered sets including eight motherboards, power supplies, Ryzen processors, or even external enclosures with a pair of RTX 5060 cards. This is not wholesale savings but a forced measure: the total cost of the bundles includes a colossal markup for unnecessary hardware just to gain access to the rare flagship card.

Economic reasons and market manipulation

Such practices are directly linked to the global increase in memory costs and the shortage of chips in 2026. Stores are using the scarce flagship card as a "loss leader" to sell off items that might otherwise remain in warehouses. This creates artificial demand for bundles that have no logical justification for the end user.

Contradictory data

Although PC Home has introduced strict bundle rules, the market situation is uneven. According to sources in Taiwan, MSI confirmed a price of $5,200 for the RTX 5090 Lightning Z model, but access to it is only possible through a lottery held once a day. This creates another layer of uncertainty: even if a user is willing to overpay for a bundle, they may not get the card due to purchase limits.

Impact on the market and prospects

Such a policy could lead to further price increases in the secondary market and intensify the shortage. Users unwilling to buy absurd bundles are forced to look for alternatives or wait for the situation to stabilize. Meanwhile, manufacturers such as Maingear continue to release pre-built PCs with the RTX 5090, which could be a temporary solution for those who do not want to deal with bundles.