I've been meaning to get a R6970 Lightning video card within the next month or two, but as per usual, MSI seems to have only manufactured enough cards to last for a few months (I think it was released last March) and then no more, ever. Now everyone who ever sold them at a "reasonable" price (Read: At MSRP +/- S+H) is sold out, and don't expect to have any more any time soon. Naturally, all the merchants who sell the cards for $200 over MSRP (which, btw, is about $390) have at least one or two in stock, and they also want to charge an extra $30 for shipping.

Now, I'm no economist, but isn't the general rule behind production of an "in high demand" product that it is continued to be produced until demand wanes?

There are genuine and artificial reasons for keeping a premium product scarce.

The genuine reason is there is an issue in supply or production. If you can't get the components you need, or you have rate or yield problems in your production, you're going to fall short of demand. This is a frequent problem in everything to do with electronics.

The artificial reason is that you restrict production in order to maintain the premium price. The point of maximum profit is not necessarily the point at which you meet all the demand. MSI's responsibility is to their shareholders; the only reason it is obliged to provide products for you to buy is to make money for them.

The third reason is that there is better money to be made in producing something else. This is especially likely to be true with premium products that are overpriced for their market, or premium products that cannot be sold at sufficient profit to justify their production.

Like I said, I'm not an economist. The only reason I didn't fail high school Economics was because my teacher in that class broke all the concepts like Supply and Demand into simple equations. That and because half the grade encompassed watching the biopic about Preston Tucker and taking a "subject matter comprehension" quiz on it.

Anyway, I've always had good experiences with MSI's hardware whether it was factory OC'd or "stock" clocked, since they don't skimp on material quality. I imagine their "regular" 6970 could stand up to the "Factory OC" settings that the Lightning does.

Since the "Lightning" cards seem to have been around for a couple years but never made it to market in quantity, I suspect MSI ran into production or profitability problems.

I do like their cards. I think all of my nVidia-chipset cards (except for one cheap old PNY) have been factory overclocked MSI. They use some creative and effective cooler designs.