Frenzy for new Nvidia gaming chips causes chaos in Tokyo
CNN
An electronics store in Tokyo has apologized after hundreds of Chinese buyers who flocked there to get their hands on the latest Nvidia gaming chips brought mayhem to the neighborhood.
An electronics store in Tokyo has apologized after hundreds of Chinese buyers who flocked there to get their hands on the latest Nvidia gaming chips brought mayhem to the neighborhood. The ensuing commotion, which went viral on Japanese social media, was a physical manifestation of the impact of the US-China tech war on gamers looking for an upgrade and resellers catering to them. Up to 400 people showed up last week in Akihabara — a popular shopping district for buying video games, manga and anime — hoping to snap up the US chipmaker’s latest series of GeForce RTX 50 graphics cards, according to the electronics chain PC Koubou. The ruckus caused by buyers obstructing the pavement and trespassing on a nearby property eventually forced the outlet to cancel the sale. It apologized earlier this week. “We formally present our deepest apologies for the great commotion that has burdened and worried our customers, neighboring communities and related parties,” PC Koubou said in a statement on Monday. Taizo Hashida, a director at Unitcom, the company that owns the chain, told CNN on Wednesday that about 90% of the hopeful buyers were Chinese-speaking customers.
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