So it sounds to me, if the agreement is so onerous and debilitating, that those manufacturers won't want to do it that nVidia are shooting themselves in the foot? AMD should swoop in with a market leading product and take the market by storm!
The AIBs need Nvidia more than Nvidia needs the AIBs. The exclusive AIBs would be dead without Nvidia. EVGA can't survive without its GPU business, Galax can't, and so on. So they're definitely jumping on. For everyone else its a risk assessment situation. What is better for their financial situation. Go along with the bully that has 70% of the marketshare or risk pissing them off in favor of the company with only 30%. The answer is obvious. Business make decisions based on how it effects them financially. They can hate Nvidia and the program but they're going to go along with it because it makes sense financially.