No, its not them being scared. Its NV coming back down to earth. When the 9800GTX came out, its only competition was the 3870x2 & 50x2 so they priced it accordingly. The same has just occurred for the 4850. NV lowering prices is ALWAYS a good thing but it only goes to show you how ridiculous their prices are to start. This will continue until NV & ATi are on equal ground again w/o them greatly passing each other. The only problem with this is that AMD refuses to charge a bagillion bucks for a card. We all know what gonna happen when the 4870x2 comes out. I don't know anyone who will get a GTX280 now when they'll be able to get it for $500 or less in a few months
I agree - and, TBH, I think nVidia's high pricing is going to rend their ass with these releases . . .
my reasoning being is that ATI have only just released their mid-range card for the series, 4870 and 4870x2 are still later down the road. Considering how well the 4850 is performing so far, and it's current price, they'll sell better than what nVidia is currently offering.
So, nVidia has to remarket and lower their price to compete; fine and dandy, but what does ATI tend to do once they release their upper-end model? Lower the price of their mid-range even further, meaning that the ball will stay in ATIs favor, as now their mid-range will still be far below nVidia's competing price, and the 4870s will be priced well, (hopefully) perform better than what nVidia currently has out, and they'll be selling like hotcakes.
nVidia will counter again with another price drop and new hardware, and then we'll see the 4870x2 roll out, ATI lower the prices on their other models on shelf, and the ball is still in ATI's court . . . and a few months after that, I'm sure ATI will further lower the price of the 70x2.
We're seeing hardball here like we haven't seen between the companies in a few years.