Baht!! Look at it this way…
There are people in the que who can afford to just abouts meet the launch RRP and a game… then they get to the front of the que and the shop is out of stock, every cocksucker infront of them was only buying it to cash in and eBay it for the big bucks.
It’s not only leaving the actual dedicated gamer without a console in their hands, but to the few hardcore who want to get in on the action as soon as they can, they also lsoe 2-3x the contents of their wallets. They’re the people at the back of the que buying it from the people at the front of the que.
They’re not scrambling to buy it a few weeks earlier than launch, they’re buying it AT launch, so in theory not any earlier. The only reason they get out of stock in the first places is because of the afordmentioned bastards getting there first =/
Don’t forget the coprations lose money on every machine, earlier machines are usually revision 1 but as the price goes down, manufacturing and supply chain improvements as well as more mass production allows the costs to come down in Rev 2, which is then passed on to the consumer.
The only way the hardware manufacturers can really make any money is the software, even then it’s a long term investment of 3-5 years before they start to see any real returns.