Is AMD losing $100 on every Vega 64 sold for $499?

One thing we know for certain about AMD's Radeon RX Vega lineup is that the cards are out of stock and that retailers are charging prices that are far above the suggested etail pricing (SEP) that was promised by AMD.

This high pricing is usually caused by retailer price gouging but this time there are several reports that the $499 price was not very realistic as some parties have come out and said this price is impossible without everyone in the supply chain selling the cards at a loss. According to large British computer parts etailer Overclockers UK, AMD provided $100 rebates to etailers to make the $499 launch price possible. This was only for limited stock and as soon as the rebates ran out the pricing shot up significantly.

Today some more information emerges as FUD Zilla heard from industry sources that AMD is losing at least $100 on every Vega 64 card it sells for $499. Take the news with a grain of salt as it can't be verified, but it would explain some of the weird things we've seen the last couple of weeks/months.

The site claims the high price of HBM2 is to blame for many of Vega's woes and heard things may improve a bit once a second HBM2 supplier enters the market. SK Hynix is reportedly planning to start delivering HBM2 in October:

The pricing of the HBM 2.0 memory, the packaging and substrate cost are simply too high to have a sustainable price of $499. We have mentioned this before, but Vega for AMD is not about making money. Don’t get me wrong, every company would like to make money with every product that it makes, but for AMD it is more important to win market share. First you win the market share, then you go after better ASPs (Average Selling Prices) and potentially start running a positive business.

The company made a statement that it still has the power to interest its loyal customers with a high-end part and win some higher end GPU market from Nvidia. AMD is waiting for the second HBM 2 supplier to try to get a bit more favorable HBM 2 price and Hynix is expected to start delivering its HBM 2 memory in October.