Hard to tell if this is just massive nVidia marketing blunder, or the result of the massive 3000 series overrun where they got caught (again) at the end of a mining boom cycle (or both?)
I think we all knew that prices and availability of 4000 series were going to be out of whack so long as this albatross of the 3000 glut was hanging out there. I admit I didn't know exactly how it would look - but something along the lines of what we got was more or less what I was expecting.
The question is - when or if it will swing the other way to be a bit more consumer-friendly? Are we grinding through the 3000 series glut? I kinda think we aren't there yet, as we just saw a new 3060 released rather than something lower tier on the 4000 series, and the 4070Ti (whatever) re-introduction has been so long delayed.
And will AMD's 7000-series card introduction put any pressure on nVidia to do anything? I kinda think it won't, at least for a while - until we get to the lower tiers; right now nVidia has already sold pretty much every 4090 they made, and they don't really have any pressure to push the 4080 against their 3000 series glut, and they have whatever they decide to reprice the 4070Ti coming out in just a few more weeks as a response as well.
Will be interesting to see how nVidia responds. So far, it's been a lot of "Shut up and we'll take your money" -- since so many people are willing to throw it at them.