Nvidia CFO reveals H100 GPU rental prices rose 20% in 2026 while older A100 prices climbed 15%, signaling AI chip shortages rather than normal semiconductor depreciation

Nvidia's CFO Colette Kress disclosed that rental prices for H100 GPUs have risen 20% so far in 2026, while A100 GPU rental prices climbed 15%—pricing behavior normally seen during commodity shortages, not in aging hardware.

The shortage spans the entire AI compute stack: beyond GPUs, demand has created pressure on high-bandwidth memory (supplied by Micron Technology and SK hynix), CPUs from Intel, networking equipment from Broadcom and Arista Networks, and power and cooling infrastructure.

Unlike traditional semiconductor cycles where older chips depreciate as newer generations arrive, AI demand is outrunning manufacturing capacity, causing three- and five-year-old GPUs to retain or increase in value as hyperscalers absorb current-generation Blackwell chips and smaller providers compete for older Hopper and Ampere inventory.