I was thinking of buying some coins but am worried about the Avalon shipments causing a decrease in value since they make so much money. I dont really understand how mining works and how it affects the market. Is it a bad idea to buy now? Or a bad idea NOT to buy now because of the new mining tech?
Over about the next four years there will be about 25 BTC "made" every 10 minutes. The network will adjust to make this happen no matter how many people mine or how much mining happens.
One less thing for you to worry about...
The amount of mining and the number of miners is driven by price, not the other way around. In other words the higher the price goes the more people get into mining thinking that they will make money. They don't since the more people there are the less each one gets since the number of new bitcoins available each day is constant.
See?