Post
Topic
Board Hardware
Re: ANTMINER S4 2TH/s, Batch 1 on Sale this week, shipping before Sept. Ends
by
Stratobitz
on 24/09/2014, 21:19:08 UTC
I am curious and anxiously awaiting to see what the S3+ B10 prices at. Our B8 and B9 units are working great.

I think BitMain honestly got a little screwed by the big price drop of Bitcoin, even with the paypal recovery it's not enough. They are in business to make money, which you can't fault them for. Smart business owners look to achieve the highest profit margins based on supply and demand, cost reduction, and other factors.

The fact that they are pricing the unit at 1450 is simply them saying they are more profitable for them to sell slowly, or sell at a lower price down the line, after mining BTC direct with the units in the meantime. You can't fault them for that.

Lastly, and perhaps the most important point to consider:  While I have no way of knowing what their actual profit margins are on these units, I have a feeling it's a fraction of the selling price. Consider their costs both fixed and variable; Fixed: Staff, Research and Development, Overhead (Rent, AC, Insurance, Interest, Technology), and then add the Variable costs:  Production cost per unit, materials, waste, shipping per unit, handling returns and repairs, etc.

So if on a 1450 unit (3.38BTC) their realized profit margin on X units sold at the end of the fiscal year is (Wildly guessing) $400, which is likely a higher number than they actually see, then what they are doing is making the right business move. Keep the unit for just 1 Month and mine .5 BTC and their unit margin for profit is now $612 provided they can still get $1450 point of sale for the unit.

Makes business sense to me. Can't fault them for that.

Strato