I expect that threads like these are being used in economics classes all over.
1. What happened to evil Nvidia posts laying blame at their feet last month ... as if this wasn't gonna happen.
2. Folks wanna blame nvidia, AMD, newegg, Amazon , ebay etc.... there is one and only one group of people to blame.... the folks sitting up late at night sniping for any new card, just to be the 1st on the block to have the new shiny thing and those burning to get a pic of "their rig" posted on instagram and pile up some likes.
3. This is the way it works,,,,
a) Manufacturers are cash poor pushing a product to market .... once the new launch is imminent cash flow tanks as folks stop buying current gen cards.
b) When the new gen launches, yields will be at their lowest point and they need to restart the cash flow train and get some money in. So they sell what they can.
c) Remember what it means to be on the bleeding edge, you are a beta tester. All the defects, BIOS errors, lousy drivers that are discovered during the 1st few months will be corrected down the road, Eventually, you will be able to take advantage of new BIOSs and driver corrections, but you not only paid a huge premium to be a tester, you don't get money back for dealing withn all the headaches. You may get lucky if your defect is big enough to be embarassing and you can RMA not, but more often than not this won't be the case. RMA is no picnic ... just ask EVGA 970, 1060 - 1080 owners with cooling issues, MSI owners who broke their fans taking tape off. 6 pin RX480 owners.
4. Imagine if ya had the patience to wait ....
a) Lower prices
b) Don't have to endure early driver headaches
c) Don't have to replace BIOS as with 6 pin 480s and live with reduced performance for as long as you own the card.
d) Your card may break requiring an RMA, but all known design defects that the early adopters dealt with, you don't have to hassle with.
e) As production lines are tweaked over time .... we see more performance ... RAM is the most onservable as higher speeds / low CAS modules became available ... and, barring shortages, less money. Like CPUs, the % of cards that break a certain OC level improves gradually over time ... more AIB options become available over time.
5. The only people who can affect prices are the people buying the cards.
a) Supplier contacts were signed months ago. Whole sale price is determined as a % of MSRP.
b) Gonna complain that AIB vendors are setting up their own shops ? Really ? Notice that MSRP of AIB cards has risen significantly. When vendors are marking up cards 10-20% over MSRP, they can regain some control .... they can raise /lower their MSRP as they please in response to market. But when the cards are selling at 25% ... 30% , do you think they are going to sit there and let vendors take 80% of the pie ?
c) Everyone in the chain has to pay rent every month, has to pay employees, utility bills, they can't do that with no money coming in. Each link in the chain suffers when products sit on shelves... each link in the chain misses out when there's no product on the shelves. They only way they can keep the doors open and meet their legal obligations to their shareholders to maximize shareholder return is to match demand with supply. If nvidia / AND doesnt have the units to send to vendors and AIBs, they are not meeting their financial obligations, same with AIBs, same with vendors.
6. OK lets take a class in Economics 101. If the $700 card is selling at $900 what is the obvious response when allotments are arriving every 7 days and selling out in three days. (Correct Answer raise price, you are not making money 4 days a week.). If you are selling $700 cards at $750 and when the new shipment arrives, you have xx number of units still sitting on shelves, what is the correct response (Lower prices). Google "what the market will bear". While this a topic with multiple answers in small businesses, corporation directors have a fiscal responsibility to maximize shareholder return with legal and ethical limits. Percent profit margin is not an ethical limit except when the product is "necessary" (i.e. medicine) and no other sources are available. A gaming card is not a necessity. The consumer is in control here .... You don't want to pay exhorbitant prices at the local steakhouse... go to a different one, get a hamburger or cook at home.