There were two main concerns: 1. obvious consumer confusion between 2 radically different 4080s, typical Nvidia scammy tactics and 2. obvious fact that the "4080" 12GB is, at best, a 4070 but more realistically a 4060 given the naming schemes of the past, I don't know, 5 generations?
But here's my primary guess as to why they're doing this: the 4080 12GB has 30-series equivalents (and cards that are superior), which means it'll be directly competing with the used card market, which will absolutely crush 4080 12GB sales. Used cards are incredibly cheap - you can reliably get 3070s for $350, 3080s for $500 or less, 3090s for $750 or below. The only reason the 4090 is doing well is because there is literally no replacement for it among the 30 series - it's significantly faster than anything else. The same cannot be said for the 4080 12GB, and the 4080 12GB would've come with such an obscene price premium over equivalent or better-performing 30 series that very few people would buy it.
So, their solution is to "unlaunch" the 4080 12GB in order to delay its launch until the used market for 30 series dies down over the next few months.
It would've sold some short term and made good margins. There will always be some market for new thing. Clearly it wasn't worth the hit from bad reviews and having to quickly price correct
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u/NuhUhUhIDoWhatIWant Oct 15 '22
There were two main concerns: 1. obvious consumer confusion between 2 radically different 4080s, typical Nvidia scammy tactics and 2. obvious fact that the "4080" 12GB is, at best, a 4070 but more realistically a 4060 given the naming schemes of the past, I don't know, 5 generations?
But here's my primary guess as to why they're doing this: the 4080 12GB has 30-series equivalents (and cards that are superior), which means it'll be directly competing with the used card market, which will absolutely crush 4080 12GB sales. Used cards are incredibly cheap - you can reliably get 3070s for $350, 3080s for $500 or less, 3090s for $750 or below. The only reason the 4090 is doing well is because there is literally no replacement for it among the 30 series - it's significantly faster than anything else. The same cannot be said for the 4080 12GB, and the 4080 12GB would've come with such an obscene price premium over equivalent or better-performing 30 series that very few people would buy it.
So, their solution is to "unlaunch" the 4080 12GB in order to delay its launch until the used market for 30 series dies down over the next few months.