Nvidia 1080 paper launch..microcenter can go<redacted> themselves

[Jaskalas]

It would be wise for Nvidia to not overstock the 1080s.
And it's not like their new card has competition yet. They can move as slow and deliberately as they'd like. Don't see an issue here.

 

[railven]

Wow, people have definitely stepped up their game. I used to be a day one purchaser. which meant swinging by Fry's or Micro Center on the way home from work, not standing in line at 6AM. How long before people start camping out in front of MC to get a card?

You ask me its because of the mainstreaming of our hobby. People want the shiny toys more than ever and are willing to spend extra. So there are a handful of people who cater at just that (while profiting at the same time.) I got $1K for my voucher no doubt that guy had intentions of making more off it. I just sold cuz they said vouchers were good until 12PM, but no way I was going to get to the store by then (turns out I didn't finish Thyroids until 1PM.)

I remember being able to stroll into a store and pick up a top tier GPU without a hassle. I miss those days.

 

[RussianSensation]

The term "Paper Launch" keeps morphing. This is a small volume card to begin with, 10s of thousands were likely on store shelves on Release Day. I can't think of a way to call this a Paper Launch.

Sure it is a paper launch. If you deliver very limited stock and then next week the card isn't for sale at any store anywhere, it's a paper launch. Who cares if they sold 10,000 cards if it takes them another 2-3 weeks to deliver another 10,000.

Ok let me put it to you another way, how about Sony and MS launch XB2 and PS4K Neo with 20,000 units worldwide? This was a 100% rushed launch to undermine the competition in terms of mind-share and brand value. NV doesn't care how many 1070/1080 cards sell this month. They needed to make sure these cards are reviewed as positively as possible with 0 competitor on launch reviews because now people will remember this launch favorably.

Having 20-30 cards per MicroCenter is a joke since there are 300 million people in the US. I bet this means for almost all of June this card will be selling out due to such low volumes of production/literally non-existent inventory build-up.

It would be good to compare last week GPU manufacturing week vs. GPUs coming out over the next 2-3 weeks. That would tell us a lot.

There is no way if Sony, Nintendo or MS launched their console like NV launched Pascal that consumers and the media wouldn't rip them for a paper launch. It's why those companies spent 3-4 months building up 2-3 million units before they launch.

"paper launch
A release of a product, especially a computer component, in extremely limited quantities, making it very difficult for consumers to get their hands on. The purpose of this is generally for a company to be able to say "we have the fastest chip", before they can actually produce large numbers of them. "

1080's launch fits the description perfectly.

 

[sandorski]

Sure it is a paper launch. If you deliver very limited stock and then next week the card isn't for sale at any store anywhere, it's a paper launch. Who cares if they sold 10,000 cards if it takes them another 2-3 weeks to deliver another 10,000.

Ok let me put it to you another way, how about Sony and MS launch XB2 and PS4K Neo with 20,000 units worldwide? This was a 100% rushed launch to undermine the competition in terms of mind-share and brand value. NV doesn't care how many 1070/1080 cards sell this month. They needed to make sure these cards are reviewed as positively as possible with 0 competitor on launch reviews because now people will remember this launch favorably.

Having 20-30 cards per MicroCenter is a joke since there are 300 million people in the US. I bet this means for almost all of June this card will be selling out due to such low volumes of production/literally non-existent inventory build-up.

It would be good to compare last week GPU manufacturing week vs. GPUs coming out over the next 2-3 weeks. That would tell us a lot.

There is no way if Sony, Nintendo or MS launched their console like NV launched Pascal that consumers and the media wouldn't rip them for a paper launch. It's why those companies spent 3-4 months building up 2-3 million units before they launch.

"paper launch
A release of a product, especially a computer component, in extremely limited quantities, making it very difficult for consumers to get their hands on. The purpose of this is generally for a company to be able to say "we have the fastest chip", before they can actually produce large numbers of them. "

1080's launch fits the description perfectly.

Where did you get that definition?

 

[ShintaiDK]

I could backorder one when stores was out of stock. And I get mine Tuesday with the second batch. Its anything but a paper launch, so stop trying to make it into one.

Also the classic definition of a paper launch is that the product doesn't exist yet for the end user. Not that someone couldn't get his hands on 1 because the store didn't list it in stock and doesnt have a backorder system.

 

[96Firebird]

Where did you get that definition?

Urban dictionary...

 

[Tweak155]

All the 1 star reviews on Amazon due to pricing & availability will hopefully have some impact. Unlikely though.

 

[jlee]

All the 1 star reviews on Amazon due to pricing & availability will hopefully have some impact. Unlikely though.

Hopefully they get deleted because product reviews are supposed to be for the product, not for pricing and availability.

 

[LTC8K6]

Hopefully they get deleted because product reviews are supposed to be for the product, not for pricing and availability.

The EVGA FE card is in Amazon's top 10 best sellers.

 

[Puffnstuff]

If I understand the OP correctly he failed to get into line like some other customers who beat him to the limited stock at MC and he's angry about it not to mention that he took a day off in conjunction with a holiday weekend. If I were his HR manager and he called out instead of scheduled ahead to be off on that day, his comments indicate that it was a last minute decision, on Tuesday morning he'd be sitting across from me explaining himself.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

"paper launch
A release of a product, especially a computer component, in extremely limited quantities, making it very difficult for consumers to get their hands on. The purpose of this is generally for a company to be able to say "we have the fastest chip", before they can actually produce large numbers of them. "

1080's launch fits the description perfectly.

I think you might be conflating 2 issues here, not being able to produce "many" of something might be a legitimate problem but I don't believe it's one that Nvidia has right now, it's not that they can't produce the GPUs at a decent rate, it's that the product is uniquely fast and in high demand because the GPU market has been starved of reasonably priced GPUs which offer large jumps in performance over prior hardware.

What you're trying to do is take some fact like "I can't buy one at launch" to infer "they can't produce large numbers of them" which is something that simply doesn't logically follow. There are other reasons why something might be out of stock and high demand is one of those reasons.

Now if you were to post corroborating evidence such as, there's reports that Nvidia are struggling to produce the hardware and there's setbacks or huge failure rates then maybe you'd have a point, but until I see anything like then it's business as usual, as it has been for the past 2 decades with GPUs, no one in their right mind is just going to horde stock of their product just so they can launch on day 1 with more to sell, you sell it as you produce it and people can bicker over who wants to pay the premiums to be a day 1 owner, it's not impossible it's just expensive.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

lol, did you go to the Mayfield MC?

 

[Rvenger]

lol, did you go to the Mayfield MC?

Sounds like my experience too from Mayfield Heights. Wow they are rude.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Sounds like my experience too from Mayfield Heights. Wow they are rude.

I've always had a pleasant experience there. Haven't come across a rude worker yet.

 

[ksheets]

If I understand the OP correctly he failed to get into line like some other customers who beat him to the limited stock at MC and he's angry about it not to mention that he took a day off in conjunction with a holiday weekend. If I were his HR manager and he called out instead of scheduled ahead to be off on that day, his comments indicate that it was a last minute decision, on Tuesday morning he'd be sitting across from me explaining himself.

Well there was no line- people got there at 6am and were given slips of paper that they had until 11 to claim, so strike one there. Secondly, I'm no longer angry- I was relieved by 1PM that i hadn't blown almost $800 on the card. And Thirdly, I have a big-boy job that is salaried and comes with actual vacation days that I accure, the day was requested and approved off- no HR intervention required.

Hope this clears everything up

 

[digitaldurandal]

Well there was no line- people got there at 6am and were given slips of paper that they had until 11 to claim, so strike one there. Secondly, I'm no longer angry- I was relieved by 1PM that i hadn't blown almost $800 on the card. And Thirdly, I have a big-boy job that is salaried and comes with actual vacation days that I accure, the day was requested and approved off- no HR intervention required.

Hope this clears everything up

I don't even know why you entertained his comment. What does the hypothetical if he was your manager have to do with anything?

 

[ksheets]

Finally Scored a 1070 at retail! ($399, Newegg). MC had a 1070 in stock, for $499 LOL.
Two upgrade cycles that MC has missed out on now...

 

[Sweepr]

Finally Scored a 1070 at retail! ($399, Newegg). MC had a 1070 in stock, for $499 LOL.
Two upgrade cycles that MC has missed out on now...

Cool. Please let us know your impressions when it arrives. That Gigabyte model looks like a very nice deal.

 

[ksheets]

I'd Like to do some Pre and Post upgrade benchmarks (Gigabyte 970, currently).
Can anyone recommend a list of benchmarks and/or games with easy benchmarking built in that you would like to see?

 

[WhiteNoise]

If I understand the OP correctly he failed to get into line like some other customers who beat him to the limited stock at MC and he's angry about it not to mention that he took a day off in conjunction with a holiday weekend. If I were his HR manager and he called out instead of scheduled ahead to be off on that day, his comments indicate that it was a last minute decision, on Tuesday morning he'd be sitting across from me explaining himself.

Yeah that's not how it works with HR. First off if he called off on the day of he most likely would have said there was a family emergency or he was sick or something like that. HR has no reason to even get involved at this point. Now if he had no time off ie vacation or sick time then most likely his supervisor or manager would talk to him. If it was an ongoing issue then yeah HR would step in. His company pretty much has to take his word for it.

And Thirdly, I have a big-boy job that is salaried and comes with actual vacation days that I accure, the day was requested and approved off- no HR intervention required.

Hope this clears everything up

And there you go...lol I didn't read through the thread far enough. Funny how people seem to talk out of their butt while assuming.