Oh, I don't mind preorders. I think a lot of people will be terribly dissapointed when they realize that no preorder means no profit.
This. Preorder = risk. Risk is the potential for profit.
Sounds clever but is untrue. Risk is the potential for *loss*, which may or may not translate into potential for profit. Stupid risks -- walking out into traffic, investing in Equestria real estate -- offer dubious profit potential.
I thing people are going to be terribly disapointed once companies have units in stock for immediate delivery. Look at ASICMiner as an example. I mean once built a company can do the same math a consumer can. Future cashflow can be reduced to net present value. If a company has a miner and it has a net present value of 50 BTC why would they sell it for less than 50 BTC?
Because they get a higher profit/time by selling miners than by mining them? If they make 90% profit by selling each miner at 45 BTC, and they feel the market could bear plenty of miners, why not sell miners, instead of mining for a year & only getting 10% profit? Come on, this is basic.
They could simply use it to mine and generate >50 BTC. Now if a company runs out of space, or power they may sell it for slightly less than 50 BTC but the days of massive "potential" profits are over.
No company is going to sell a miner (in stock ready to start hashing) which they project will produce 50 net BTC in a year for 20 BTC. Once again look at ASICMiner blade prices. This is the same equipment used by ASICMiner. Why would they sell it for significantly less than what they can earn from mining? As a shareholder it doesn't really matter where the revenue comes from (sales or mining) the goal is to maximize revenue.
See my answer above.