Thats even funnier than Fjodor's no inflation comment.
Inflation isn't the answer in this case. MicroCenter in the US has 4790K for $259.99 vs. i7 5820K for $319.99 vs. i7 6700K for $359.99. Inflation has nothing to do with it - it's supply vs. demand.
When i7 6700K's prices eventually fall, what are you going to say, deflation? No, it's going to be because superior products have made i7 6700K less attractive (i.e., 6800K, Kaby Lake, etc.), resulting in lower quantity demanded. Since Intel places manufacturing orders in advance, the factories will not be able to suddenly reduce the output production for i7 6700K fast enough, which will mean price drops and motherboard combo deals with MIRs. Essentially how we have some stores clearing out 5820K and 4790K at prices well below 6700K.
It may be opportunistic for Intel to raise prices of the latest tech to maximize profits from early adopters while allowing for older, less attractive inventory to be cleared out without destroying your margins on the older tech. With no competition from AMD and no BW-E until Q2 2016, in the heat of the holiday season when people spend their $ the most, this is brilliant. Pure profit maximization.
What's the consumer who needs a new PC going to do, not buy an i7 6700K? Ok so they'll buy the i5 6600K whose price is also higher OR they'll buy older 4790K or 5820K, helping Intel clear its old inventory. Win-Win for Intel. That's what happens when you have a virtual monopoly in the CPU space.
Intel or retailers can raise the price of i7 6700K to $399 and keep it there, what are we going to do? Not build a PC? Ya that might work for a while but eventually you'll spend that $.
Went up in Canada too, $539, ouch that's Intel Extreme territory.
Don't forget to add taxes my friend. Ya, and at that price it's sold out on
Amazon.ca and
Newegg.ca.
Remember our dollar is getting rekt too. If you look at B&H, they basically directly translate USD to CDN via market FX and ship you the product to Canada.
i7 6700K =
$399.99 USD x 1.335 FX = $534 CDN.
Not all is bad though....for now.
2016 Mazda 3 =
17,845 US
2016 Mazda 3 =
$15,550 CDN
Fancy a BMW or a Porsche? Currently a
bargain in CDN
2016
M4 = 75,000 CDN vs. 65,400 US
M5 = 102,500 CDN vs. 94,100 US
X5M = 105,900 CDN vs. 98,800 US
2016
911 = 102,200 CDN vs. 89,400 US
Macan S = 59,200 CDN vs. 54,400 US
Don't worry, it's going to get more fun for us in 2016 because U.S. is going to raise interest rates which will raise the value of USD against world's currencies, and usually in early January, many Canadian stores reprice everything from USD to CDN at newer rates. Get some lube ready as next gen CPUs/GPUs will get even more expensive for those who aren't making USD or whose currencies aren't fixed to the US dollar.
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