Video cards (Russian market)

2025: About 10 thousand video cards for artificial intelligence are used in Russian data centers

As of the beginning of 2025, about 10 thousand GPU-based accelerators (GPUs) for calculations related to artificial intelligence are used in Russian data centers (data centers). Installed power is estimated at the equivalent of Nvidia A100 cards. The material dated March 10, 2025 says that in the Russian Federation, calculations using AI are mainly carried out on the basis of the enterprises' own infrastructure.

According to the Vedomosti newspaper, referring to the statements of Rostelecom vice president Dariy Khalitov, it is very difficult to determine the actual use of AI accelerators in Russian data centers. For example, independent analyst Aleksei Boyko believes that by the beginning of 2025 the number of such cards at domestic data centers is 3000-4000 units in the equivalent of A100. According to him, various accelerators are used in Russia to train AI models and information: these are primarily American products that entered the country until 2022, such as Nvidia, AMD (Instinct MI) and to a lesser extent Intel.

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Фото: Freepik

It is difficult to talk about Russian manufacturers, and in terms of comparability in terms of parameters with the A100, it is completely inappropriate. But, nevertheless, there are domestic neuro-accelerators of the NTC Module company, this is not a GPU, but an NPU (neuroprocessor module), the tasks are solved by similar ones, - Boyko notes.

Khalitov believes that by 2030 the capacity of Russian data centers for solving AI problems will exceed 70 thousand accelerators in the equivalent of Nvidia A100. Several factors hinder the expansion of the industry. This, in particular, is the formed geopolitical situation that makes it difficult to purchase foreign equipment. In addition, Russian data centers do not have enough electricity to train new AI models.^[1]

2024

Video card sales growth by 11.1% to 1.5 million units

Sales of video cards in Russia in 2023 reached 1.35 million units, and their total turnover amounted to $560 million. Such data on February 28, 2025 was presented by the head of the procurement department of the 3Logic Group Maxim Rodionov. According to him, in 2024 the trend continued, and the market volume increased to 1.5 million devices sold in the amount of $600 million, which is 11% more than a year earlier.

According to Vedomosti, the consumer market for video cards in Russia showed a significant increase of 72% compared to pre-pandemic 2021, when 870 thousand devices were sold. According to data provided by a representative of Marvel Distribution, in 2021 the market in monetary terms amounted to ₽40,3 billion (approximately $555 million at an average annual rate of 72.6 ₽/$).

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Фото: Freepik

Interestingly, despite the official departure of American manufacturers from the Russian market, their products still occupy a dominant position. According to Maxim Rodionov, graphics cards based on Nvidia GPUs in 2024 accounted for about 84% of the market in quantitative terms. The most popular model was the RTX 4060 series, which accounted for 25% of all sales. The share of video cards on AMD chips reached 15%, and on Intel processors - only 1%. A representative of Marvel Distribution confirmed these statistics.

Peter Gorbey, Director of the Computer Peripherals Department of Marvel Distribution, provided historical market data demonstrating the stability of the preferences of Russian consumers. According to him, in 2022, Nvidia's share was 84.3% of all sales, AMD - 15.4%, Intel - less than 1%. The 2022 sales leader was the GeForce GTX 1030 graphics card with a 2.1% market share. In 2023, the positions changed slightly: Nvidia - 82%, AMD - 17%, Intel - 0.7%. The most popular series was the GeForce GTX 1660, which took 2% of total sales.

Petr Gorbey also explained an important feature of the GPU market: the largest chip manufacturers, including Nvidia, do not make ready-made consumer video cards. The main products of such companies are graphics solutions for servers and professional systems. Market statistics take into account the number of chips that are provided to manufacturers of ready-made video cards for the consumer segment.

Among the companies that produce final products for consumers, in 2024 the Taiwanese MSI and the Chinese Palit led with equal shares of 30% of the Russian market each. This was followed by Taiwanese manufacturer Gigabyte with 15% of the market, while Taiwanese Asus and Chinese KFA2 occupied 9-10% each.

Different retail chains note different customer preferences. According to information from the representative of M.Video-Eldorado, the RTX 4070 model was the most popular in their stores. At the same time, Alexander Alizar, head of components at Citylink, said that the RTX 4060 was the leader in their network. Both of these models are produced by Chinese manufacturer Palit based on developments by Nvidia.

Despite the strengthening dollar, retail chains recorded sales growth in 2024. According to the representative of M.video-Eldorado, the volume of video card sales in their network increased by 30% compared to 2023. In Citylinka, the growth was 16%. Alexander Alizar noted that it was the consumer segment (b2c) that became the main driver of growth in the video card market.

The analytical center "Check Index" of the company "Platform OFD" recorded a decrease in the median price for video cards in 2024 by 8% - to ₽37 007, while the total market turnover decreased by 4%.^[2]

Nvidia closed Russians access to new drivers for video cards

On October 23, 2024, it became known that the American company Nvidia deprived users from Russia of the ability to download new versions of drivers for their graphics accelerators. You cannot update drivers already installed on your computer. Read more here.

Sales of video cards in the Russian market increased by 233% in the first half of the year

M.Video-Eldorado Group analyzed the statistics of video card sales in the first half of 2024 in the sales channels of M.Video-Eldorado. According to data for 6 months, they turned out to be 233% higher in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2023. The company announced this on July 8, 2024. Read more here.

2023

50% rise in sales

Sales of graphics accelerators in Russia during January-June 2023 soared by 50% compared to the same period in 2022. Such data are provided in the F + tech study (F-Plus Equipment and Development LLC, the head structure of the Marvell Distribution group), the results of which were released in early August 2023.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, in the first half of 2023, approximately 543.5 thousand video cards entered the Russian market. Monthly shipments reach 90-100 thousand units, while until July 2022 this figure was approximately 60 thousand devices. At the same time, in monetary terms, sales decreased on an annualized basis by 1.65% - to 17.8 billion rubles.

Sales of graphics accelerators during January-June 2023 soared by 50%

The study says that the demand for graphics accelerators of the lower and middle price segments has increased in the Russian market. Because of this, the average cost of devices for the year decreased from 50 thousand rubles to 32 thousand rubles. This trend, according to market participants, is explained by a decrease in consumer interest in high-performance solutions for cryptocurrency mining.

With a low rate of cryptocurrency, the costs of its production overlap profit, "says Arthur Makhlayuk, a business analyst at F + tech Marvell Group.

The largest growth in sales in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year was shown by the Chinese brands Asrock (by 93%), Zotac (by 59%) and Inno3d (by 50%), as well as American PNY (by 44%), Nvidia (by 17%) and Powercolor (by 14%). The leaders of the Russian market in terms of the number of video cards sold included Palit (22.7%), Gygabite (23.5%), MSI (19%), KFA2 (7.5%), Asus (6.5%) and Sapphire (4.5%). The growth of video card sales in Russia is facilitated by the rapid development of the artificial intelligence industry.^[3]

2021: Growth in demand for video cards in the Russian Federation after an increase in the price of bitcoin

As it became known on January 18, 2021, the Russians began to buy up video cards after the growth of the bitcoin rate. Moreover, computer components used in the extraction of cryptocurrencies do not even get to stores - batches in the amount of 1000 pieces are purchased directly from suppliers.

To sheets Sellers told about the rush demand for video cards. electronic engineers According to them, the cost of such products increased by about $100, for some models - 1.5-2 times. At the same time, high-performance devices completely disappeared from open sale.

Over the past one and a half to two months, shipments of video cards have tripled, an employee of the IT distributor Treolan told the publication. According to him, demand in the market exceeds supply.

Russians are buying up video cards due to the growth of bitcoin

The analyst Finam"" Leonid Delitsyn in a conversation with "" Businessman expressed doubt that the cost of equipping a home mining farm will pay off in the current environment:

If someone wants to build mining a farm, then on a modern scale they need a million rubles, since you need to buy a lot of video cards, otherwise a person will not earn anything in his life. Honestly, I don't know if it's a good idea to mine bitcoins now, because it becomes too expensive a pleasure. I find it very hard to believe it could pay off with some little entrepreneur, "he said.

An employee of one of the banks, in a conversation with Vedomosti, said that theoretically, in 30-45 days, a home computer can get 1 bitcoin. However, in practice, mining cryptocurrency is becoming more and more expensive, so miners are trying to issue lighter and cheaper cryptocurrencies, such as, for example, Ethereum and Lightcoin, which, however, are significantly cheaper than bitcoin, the source explained.

A computer that allows you to effectively engage in mining will cost the user 120-140 thousand rubles - these investments can pay off in about 12-14 months, believes Dmitry Marinichev, Internet Ombudsman and co-owner of the mining server business.^[4][5]

2020: Surge in sales of video cards for mining in the Russian Federation

In the summer of 2020, Russia experienced a gigantic surge in demand for video cards for cryptocurrency mining, which is primarily due to the massive transition to remote work in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

According to the operator "Platform OFD," in June-August 2020, sales of components for computers jumped by 470% compared to the same period in 2019. Video cards are among the leading components in terms of implementation volume.

In the Russian Federation, there was a significant surge in sales of video cards for mining

Andrei Kirichevsky, director of the Laptops, Tablets and Components department at Marvel Distribution, in a conversation with Kommersant, noted that the increase in the use of video cards began to be observed in August 2020.

The representative of Citylink Andrei Rusakov confirmed that sales of video cards that can be used in mining increased by 49% in monetary terms. Nvidia also noted a twofold increase in sales compared to August last year, said Irina Shekhovtsova, a representative of the video card company. They explained the rise with the advent of new games and work applications that require new technology.

As the publication reminds, the peak of excitement in the video card market took place in 2017, when miners bought almost all of them in stores, and manufacturers had to limit the number of sales in one hand. By September 2020, this market is still strongly tied to the situation with cryptocurrencies - device sales are growing when the remuneration for mining increases, said Anton Epishev, head of Russia.

According to the calculations of the retailer M.Video-Eldorado, sales of all computer equipment on the Russian market in the first half of 2020 reached about 3.5 million units and 90 billion rubles, which is 23% and 32% more, respectively.^[6]

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