Without commenting on how well it did or didn't sell, it was pretty suspicious that the bitmain website basically stopped syncing with BTC\USD price when it went above $593 and then when it stayed higher than that, both the S9's and the R4 went to sold out within hours of each other.
I love that us on this forum collectively can catch all these little tricks bitmain uses. I'm sure they have all sorts of fail-safes built in to prevent accidentally giving buyers a real deal!
I remember when batch numbers actually meant something back in the Avalon days or early Bitmain days. Now they just are around to make people feel a sense of exclusivity and scarcity. I got suckered into Batch 2/4 S7s that finally ROI'd recently, IF I take electricity OUT the calculation (and I'm less than $0.07/KWH!), so the reality is I am still down overall. Amazing how the S7 started above 5BTC and just a few months later was selling for less than a single BTC.
I just see that same scenario playing out with the S9/R4, there is no "bottom" to the market.