appopin - simply put, maybe, maybe not. The quote you snipped out ran across two sentences and severely distorts the meaning, but such are the ways we try to divine what statements like these really mean, so no harm, no foul.
It's entirely possible that ATI/AMD aren't competitive right now. It's also entirely possible that the only thing they can bring out right now is a reasonably competitive, high-end card.
Yet surely they know precisely what nVidia has waiting: great mid-range GPU's to spoil their release (look, we've made DX10 affordable) and a refresh of the high-end parts just as DX10 games arrive to retake the performance crown (look, we can run Crysis faster).
If you've got a good idea of what your competitor plans, I don't see why you would walk into the trap. If you read the latter part of Ruiz' statement, he suggests another idea:
"To better align our strategy with current market opportunities, we've changed the launch plan for R600. We are going to deliver a competitive configuration to market with an extremely attractive combination of performance, features and pricing, targeting a broader market segment in Q2. With the revised strategy, AMD will be better able to capitalize on the broad appeal of 3D graphics and DirectX 10, being driven in part by the growing popularity of Windows Vista?."
Ruiz's statement clearly says that they're looking to "address a broader market segment in Q2." If I were placing bets, I'd bet on an introduction of both high-end and mid-range parts in Q2 instead of just high-end parts now.
Wreckage says that a lot of people are simply going to move to the 8800 because of the delay, and that may be the case. It's also clearly the case, however, that a lot of people are waiting on R600, just in case it does ofter a serious leap in performance.
My best guess is that ATI/AMD know R600 isn't a serious leap and that bringing it out now will give nVidia (and the rest of us) a really good idea of how their midrange parts are going to perform. At that point, with the immediate release of the 8600 and the pretty sure knowledge that the ATI/AMD parts aren't going to blow it away, nVidia has got the initial DX10 market almost sewn-up.
They've got the early adopters of the 8800. Check. They've got the opportunity to retake the performance crown before any DX10 games debut. Check. They've got the bargain hunters with the cut-down 8800's. Check. And they've got the budget gamers with the mid-range 8600. Check.
No way in heck would I walk into this trap. It may tick people off to keep them waiting, but you keep them wondering too.
Let me reiterate I don't think this is likely but, given ATI/AMD's position right now, if they just plow ahead with a high-end release and no budget cards that doesn't blow the 8800 away, they're in for a rough ride over the next few months.