Intel’s Core i9-13900K is the most heavily affected by the voltage instability/degradation bug that plagues all 13th and 14th Gen K-series Raptor Lake processors. We’ve extensively covered this issue in the past as it affected five of our own SKUs, including multiple RMAs. You can go through those reports here. A few months after Intel’s latest mitigation (not fixed), we observed a sudden drop in the 13900K’s price in the Indian market. We’re talking about a drop of up to 20%, from 50K to ~40K INR.
Following the price drop, multiple retailers have stopped selling the Core i9-13900K altogether. It has been over a month since several of the country’s largest retailers have restocked their inventory of the 13th Gen flagship. This could be a stock shortage, amplified by the increase in RMA orders, or an artificially induced (temporary?) halt, but it’s hard to say for sure.
When reporting, three out of the five largest PC retailers don’t have a single Core i9-13900K in stock, with the other two selling it 15-20% lower than last quarter. Bear in mind that Amazon India continues to sell the Core i9-13900K at 45K, the 13900KF at 51K, and the KS at 59K. However, most informed customers stick to regional stores as Amazon’s prices tend to be a notch higher than the rest.
With Arrow Lake scheduled to launch in the coming months, it’s hard to think of a reason for Intel to continue selling the Raptor Lake family, especially the 13th Gen range which is more prone to instability issues. If the Core i9-13900K does return to retail in India, it’ll be in the price range of the 14700K, and not its original 50K sticker price.
