Friday, December 8th 2006
NVIDIA, AMD and ATI accused of fixing prices
According to the Inquirer, NVIDIA, ATI and AMD could be in trouble for apparently conspiring to keep prices high. Allegedly executives of the companies have met to discuss the price of graphics processor units and therefore have received a summons by the Department of Justice, being asked to present data going back into the 1990s.
Although this is just an accusation and is yet to be proved, it is argued that the price of new graphics cards is always around $500 for the top models which could be down to price fixing. Given the competition that appears on the surface between the companies (well ATI and NVIDIA) this would come as a surprise, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.
Source:
The Inquirer
Although this is just an accusation and is yet to be proved, it is argued that the price of new graphics cards is always around $500 for the top models which could be down to price fixing. Given the competition that appears on the surface between the companies (well ATI and NVIDIA) this would come as a surprise, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.
18 Comments on NVIDIA, AMD and ATI accused of fixing prices
Is it possible that the inq. info is accurate this round?
if they have to lower prices, then could that mean lower quality for later generations?
i thought i read something awhile back that retail price is increased 85% from cost of manufacturing...i doubt that includes research and development costs tho...but $50 high end video cards would be awsome...:D
it will be interesting to see if either side was conspiring together on prices...but i imagen that this could take years to settle...
yea and its possible we never know whats going on behind our backs
As a biz manager for many years I can tell you that virtually all companies charge whatever the traffic will bear. See the price of crude oil as an example. As long as people pay $3 or more per gallon for gasoline, that is what will be charged. If people refuse to pay it the inventories increase and the price is lowered to move the surplus out. In the Vid card, Mobo, HD, memory or any other product free marketplace the price is what people will pay and as long as their is no conspiracy to fix prices or a cabal, then there is no violation of law.
The only reason many companies can get premium prices for their products is because the online shills hype the products until gullible sheep falsely believe they can't live without this product. Then they pay thru the nose for something they don't need but feel they can't live without. See the Xbox, Wii, Ipod, cellphone, PC, and a million other hyped products that almost no one needs, but many believe they can't live without.