AMD delayed Vega’s launch to offer higher volumes

In an interview with HardOCP, AMD’s Chris Hook stated that part of the reason why the RX Vega was delayed was to ensure that RX Vega GPUs reached gamers in high enough volumes, especially given the increased demand for GPUs due to mining.   

Part of the reason it’s taken us a little longer to launch Vega, and I’ll be honest about that is that we wanted to make sure we were launching with good volume.

Obviously, we’ve got to compensate for things like coin-miners, they’re going to want to get their hands on these. We believe we’re launching with a volume that will ensure gamers can get their hands on them, and that’s what’s important to us.

 

While many would assume that selling RX Vega GPUs en masse to miners would be a good move for AMD, it must be remembered that miners are not loyal customers and typically jump from brand to brand depending on who’s GPUs are most profitable. 

It must also be remembered that miners can often flood the used market with GPUs, which again can hurt new sales later down the line and that miners also require more warranty returns due to their 24hr workloads. 

AMD knows that it is in their best interest to sell RX Vega GPUs to gamers, as an increased gaming market share will help convince developers and engine makers to create software with their hardware in mind which in turn will increase their GPU sales. Selling out to a non-gaming audience is not a good move in the long term.  

  

AMD’s RX Vega will release on August 14th in the UK, with aftermarket Vega variants being expected to hit store shelves in September. 

 

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