Nvidia is Offering AIB Partner Refunds for (Now Defunct) 4080 12GB Packaging

With Nvidia formally announcing the ‘unlaunch’ of its 4080 12GB graphics card last week, the biggest letdown for consumers was clearly the fact that this would see the most affordable GPU, set to be imminently released from the 40XX series so far at least, pushed back until likely at least the early part of 2023. – Let’s be honest though, despite the fact that it had a 4080 in its name, a quick look at the specifications for both the 16GB and 12GB variants clearly confirmed that the latter was no 4080 at all. It was a 4070, or a 4070 Ti.

While this was a problem for consumers, however, you did have to spare a thought for AIB partners who undoubtedly already had their packaging ready ahead of the graphics card launch. And let’s be clear, with it set for release in around 4-8 weeks’ time, the boxwork would’ve already been printed and assembled ready for the GPUs to go inside!

Following a report via Videocardz, however, two AIB partners (who seemingly wish to remain anonymous) have confirmed that Nvidia is offering them compensation, and basically a reimbursement, for any packaging expenses incurred due to the cancellation of the 4080 12GB.

Nvidia Offers Refunds to AIBs for 4080 12GB Packaging Costs!

The fact that Nvidia is offering partners a refund for the cost of the packaging clearly indicates that any kind of sticker or general repurposing is either not going to be possible, or perhaps more likely, Nvidia would prefer to exsponge the existence of the 4080 12GB as quickly from the tech world’s memory as possible.

This does, however, again raise the question as to what future the graphics card formally known as the 4080 12GB has. – The most obvious conclusion is that it will make an appearance again at some point in the future, but likely under a new lower-tier naming (such as the 4070 or 4070 Ti). Presuming AIB partners have the GPUs in stock, and possibly already in the box, however, this will require some time to get them out and apply a new BIOS update to correctly rename them (in terms of the display name when inserted into a system). And in this regard, it’s unclear whether Nvidia’s going to be willing to pay for the work necessary to do that.

For the moment though, they’re getting refunded for the boxes, so I at least feel slightly less bad for AIB partners now than I did before!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!