[techpowerup] Radeon HD 7970 FOB Price Cut to $475

[Arkadrel]

http://www.techpowerup.com/158042/Retail-Radeon-HD-7970-FOB-Price-Cut-to-$475-From-$525.html

On the 22nd of December 2011, AMD launched its Radeon HD 7970, announcing that the cards will be available in the retail channels by 9th January, 2012. It permitted reviewers with access to AMD-made samples to post reviews on the 22nd, and told the press that it will have a FOB (freight-onboard) price (the price at which each card ships out of its place of origin, in this case Hong Kong, China) of US $525. Market sources told DonanimHaber that this price has been adjusted from $525 to $475. That doesn't necessarily mean that retail HD 7970 will cost lower than the $550 target retail price AMD talked about in several occasions. It will be up to downstream distributors and retailers on whether they want to convey this latest cut to the end-user, or keep a bigger "cut" (margin) for themselves. AMD hasn't officially announced any price updates so far.

475$ for a card ~25-30% faster than a 580
That ll likely overclock to faster than 6990/590 performance.

Alot of people where complaining about price, so this ought to be good for the card.

 

[aphelion02]

What will this do to the pricing for the 7950 I wonder. $375?

 

[StrangerGuy]

Why are they even doing this?

 

[dakU7]

Why are they even doing this?

This.

They don't like money I guess.

 

[Arkadrel]

Why are they even doing this?

I dont understand it either.... they where justified by performance, for their price.

This ll just make the 590,6990, and 580, look like reaaaaaally bad value.
Maybe they hope to sell alot of them? *shrugs*

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I guess some of us were right... Cough.. Cough

Good choice AMD you just made yourself some more sales and good will from the pc gaming community.

 

[railven]

I'm a consumer first so - HELL YEAH! Of course, it will shoot back up to $550 with gouging, but still, that's $75 less which will FORCE down the GTX 580 and everything else.

So come upgrade time, if the GTX 6 series isn't out or at least being prepped, my GF is getting a GTX 580

 

[Lonyo]

Probably to psych out NV.

"Well, we were going to launch at these prices, but we're giving our partners the chance to reduce prices and put even more pressure on you before we've even shipped".

I'm fairly sure I said at least once that these cards aren't $550 cards in order to have slim margins (and most people can see that). They probably made a $400 card and then priced it where they wanted, and now they've decided that maybe it's not such a good price in terms fo making consumers feel happy, so they are giving people the chance to sell cheaper.

I would guess maybe lots of rebates from partners, rather than lower baseline pricing (since that way they can still make more profit on some cards, since not everyone sends in rebates).

 

[MrTeal]

TPU is reporting that there's lots of stock of 7970s, but I wouldn't expect that the $550 price will drop much, especially at first. It just means we might actually see the 7970 for $550. If retailers get x number of cards and are confident they can sell those out at $550 or $580, they have zero incentive to sell for less.

 

[nitromullet]

Well, first we'll have to see if these cuts actually get passed on to us. If they do it's great news, and I think it will really take the 7970 from good to great in the eyes of many.

If the price does get passed on to us I think AMD's intention is looking at the market long term. They've built up considerable market share competing on the basis of excellent price/performance, and by raising the relative price they would lose that edge. Also, if Kepler launches in 2-3 months and AMD was forced to drop the price to compete they would have some irritated early adopters. Sure, you could argue "early adopter's tax", but early adopters tend to be high margin customers so not totally abusing their willingness to spend a little extra to get the latest/greatest is in AMD's best interest.

I count myself among the ranks of these people, and I've definitely been burned on paying too much before. Case in point was the X1800XT, which I paid $650 for and was quickly relegated to the sidelines by the X1900 cards.

Luckily I didn't pay the higher initial price for the GTX 280/260, but quite a few people did and NV was forced to issue refunds... I think AMD is looking at thinking it makes more sense to price the card well to begin with instead of backpedaling later on.

 

[Belegost]

This is a marketing strategy more than a real price cut.

1) This allows retailers to sell at MSRP with significantly better margins which means retailers will push it over lower margin alternatives.
2) This opens the doors for sale pricing, rebates, and other retailer promotions, getting the card free press, and improving sales rates.

 

[DeathReborn]

http://www.techpowerup.com/158042/Retail-Radeon-HD-7970-FOB-Price-Cut-to-$475-From-$525.html



475$ for a card ~25-30% faster than a 580
That ll likely overclock to faster than 6990/590 performance.

Alot of people where complaining about price, so this ought to be good for the card.

You did read the article right? It could just mean $50 more profit for distributors/retailers & $0 price reduction for customers. I'd like to see if ANY 7970's are $475 on the 9th because that would be a more sensible price.

 

[superjim]

Using history as a guide, I'll eat my drawers if the 7970 launches at anything less than $550 at least for the first 2-3 weeks. It will take competition from NV or stagnate sales to see this discount on 7970s but only in the form of mail-in rebates.

 

[SirPauly]

Nice to see the potential of more value/performance, very welcomed, if accurate!

 

[tviceman]

http://www.techpowerup.com/158042/Retail-Radeon-HD-7970-FOB-Price-Cut-to-$475-From-$525.html



475$ for a card ~25-30% faster than a 580
That ll likely overclock to faster than 6990/590 performance.

Alot of people where complaining about price, so this ought to be good for the card.

This price cut does not mean it will trickle down dollar for dollar at retail, but it confirms what so many others have said and thought about pricing. Anyone who is going to complain about a potentially lower price at launch needs to have their brain examined.

 

[JBT]

I think this gives their partners the ability to space out the OC from the factor parts a bit more.

It also makes me more likely to buy their top end rather than mid level parts.

 

[xp0c]

This is awsome news

 

[Don Karnage]

I don't see the cards being any cheaper unfortunately. Every card post online right now is over 600 bucks

 

[Idontcare]

Why are they even doing this?

IMO this is literally nothing more than sound supply/demand inventory management.

The $525-$550 price-point was based on expectations of the supply being S0 units/day and the demand being D0 units per day where S0 was expected to be nearly equal to D0 (i.e. balanced supply/demand because of the price target).

What I read into this shift is that AMD has either internally revised their predictions of consumer demand downward (D0 was too high, so now they have D1 where D1 < D0), or they are seeing better than anticipated 28nm yields and are realizing that supply needs to be revised upwards and in response to this excess supply they need to lower prices and increase demand.

Image Source

Personally I would bet that they are seeing better than expected 28nm yields and have adjusted price down slightly so as to promote a slight increase in demand to avoid needless inventory buildup.

 

[nitromullet]

I don't see the cards being any cheaper unfortunately. Every card post online right now is over 600 bucks

Are you talking about sites like excaliberpc.com?

http://www.excaliberpc.com/611611/sa...-7970-3gb.html

Every launch this site has pre-sale cards listed at ridiculous prices, and they are never indicative of final price.

 

[Don Karnage]

Are you talking about sites like excaliberpc.com?

http://www.excaliberpc.com/611611/sa...-7970-3gb.html

Every launch this site has pre-sale cards listed at ridiculous prices, and they are never indicative of final price.

Yes i was and im incorrect. Provantage has a Gigabyte 7970 for 563

http://www.provantage.com/gigabyte-t...b~7GIG90LV.htm

 

[Vesku]

My guess is they don't want a repeat of the 5870 price hiking. AMD doesn't see a dime of that extra money and it can reduce the overall impact of a launch.

 

[Arkadrel]

My guess is they don't want a repeat of the 5870 price hiking. AMD doesn't see a dime of that extra money and it can reduce the overall impact of a launch.

Yep venders get rich off of amd

Oh well... hopefully a few of them actually move that saveing to the consumer.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Yep venders get rich off of amd

Oh well... hopefully a few of them actually move that saveing to the consumer.

You do realize that the cards would of been $600+ if they were priced at $550 msrp. At $475 at least people have a chance at getting one at $500.

 

[Don Karnage]

Anyone want to take a guess how much newegg will mark them up? I don't think we'll see any 549.99 cards. Thinking maybe the lowest will be 579.99