The NVIDIA Ampere series came out and was gone within a second on many retail sites, with purchasers boasting about how many cards they were able to purchase using bots to resell and scalp users with on third-party sites.
Some had well over a dozen that they championed in front of frustrated users that couldn’t even manage to see that they were in stock, much less actually manage to add it to their cart.
This was all done using bots scripts that can cost well over $50, allowing scalpers to maximize their profits without needing to overwatch the websites and desperately click buttons. That Nvidia opted to not have CAPTCHAs on their website to block the bots only added to users’ frustration.
Nvidia finally ended up adding the bot-blockers well after the cards were sold out.
Now, it appears that as AMD gets ready to release their RX 6000 and AMD Ryzen 5000 series, they are taking a couple of notes from the disastrous and frustrating launch that Nvidia suffered through.
In documentation that was leaked towards the public, AMD outlines rules and guidance to authorized retailers to ensure that they don’t suffer from the same fate as Nvidia did.
AMD Leaked Documentation via /u/Emirique175 via Reddit
AMD noticeably takes an early statement against resellers and how companies should attempt to ensure that purchases are going to actual users instead of bots on third-party websites; scalpers, in other words. Of special note is the first bullet point focusing on bot detection and management; an aspect that Nvidia failed upon that resulted in a heft of frustration and annoyance towards the GPU juggernaut of the PC industry.
It’s worth noting that the entirety of the document is not so much as written law as it is guidance to controlling the release of the new AMD line-up; wanton disregard of the guidelines could plausibly result in consequences for the retailer, though is not guaranteed.
Speculation is currently growing that there will be a sudden restock of Nvidia Ampere cards available once AMD’s new line-up becomes available; if that’s the case, then it’s almost an unassailable point that Nvidia is artificially limited stock to drive demand and anticipation, which then results in scalpers having a market for exploitation.
This wouldn’t be the first time that a market was artificially limited to drive up demand: Nintendo frequently appears to have the same strategies regarding limited-run consoles.
The next two months will be fascinating to watch, at any rate; just remind yourself that you don’t need the bleeding edge of technology as many have been reporting woes with the new Ampere series after dodging consistent hurdles to get their hands on one.
