AMD Bans ASRock from Entering European GPU Market

Status
Not open for further replies.
Megalith

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
ASRock has clarified that its graphics cards cannot be sold in the EU: the company had to reach out to the German division of Tom’s Hardware after the site published a review of the RX 580 Phantom Gaming X in order to figure out how their sample was obtained. According to an ASRock sales manager, AMD does not allow them to sell these cards in that region.

Regional sales bans are actually quite common. Yet still, customers should have a choice when it comes to choosing the right model, at the lowest price possible. Those who want ASRock graphics cards will still be able to buy them, just with additional taxes and shipping costs artificially created by regional sales bans.
 
Isn't this simply because Asrock just started making gpus? Might not have the right licensing agreement in place yet.
 
Honestly, I have been told constasntly for years that AMD graphics card prices in the rest of the world (outside US) are astronomically higher that Nvidia. People say it's cheap to buy a more expensive Nvidia card then to buy a lower matched AMD card. Wonder it this has anything to do with the artificial price fixing. . .
 
odditory said:
It wouldn't be AMD's problem. It would be between Asrock and the EU.

Now let's see if saintly AMD gets the same amount of kneejerking and flailing as evil Nvidia over "limiting consumer choice".
Click to expand...

Well Nvidia wanted to take established gaming brands as their own. Why they didn't take the new branding and leave AMD with the established gaming brands?

Because Nvidia knew it was an advantage to have the established brands.

As for banning AIBs from certain regions has more to do with market saturation. Just like how Colorful can't sell in the US, but are the second largest by volume.
 
Guys? For bestest(11!!1) commentz, it's usually techpowerup.com, not [H]OCP.

If this is an indirect means of extorting AsRock (meaning they gave AMD the finger and good for them), i'm with you, this is very bad; bad because it really is, bad because you cannot tout "freedom" and pretend to be the good guy when you pull exactly the same tricks the other giant does.
If.
Because those stickers saying 'AMD' come at a price; that red logo, it too; if someone down the yellow under thought of a 'smart' way to "circumvent" AMD's policies and save a shekel or two for the boys upstairs, then clearly AMD is well within its right to give them the middle finger.

Wait. Think. Learn. Post last.

Again, if this turns out to be extortion, i'll be complaining just as loudly as you. If.
 
Aenra said:
Guys? For bestest(11!!1) commentz, it's usually techpowerup.com, not [H]OCP.

If this is an indirect means of extorting AsRock (meaning they gave AMD the finger and good for them), i'm with you, this is very bad; bad because it really is, bad because you cannot tout "freedom" and pretend to be the good guy when you pull exactly the same tricks the other giant does.
If.
Because those stickers saying 'AMD' come at a price; that red logo, it too; if someone down the yellow under thought of a 'smart' way to "circumvent" AMD's policies and save a shekel or two for the boys upstairs, then clearly AMD is well within its right to give them the middle finger.

Wait. Think. Learn. Post last.

Again, if this turns out to be extortion, i'll be complaining just as loudly as you. If.
Click to expand...

Huh? Am I the only one who cannot parse this post?
 
Aenra said:
Guys? For bestest(11!!1) commentz, it's usually techpowerup.com, not [H]OCP.

If this is an indirect means of extorting AsRock (meaning they gave AMD the finger and good for them), i'm with you, this is very bad; bad because it really is, bad because you cannot tout "freedom" and pretend to be the good guy when you pull exactly the same tricks the other giant does.
If.
Because those stickers saying 'AMD' come at a price; that red logo, it too; if someone down the yellow under thought of a 'smart' way to "circumvent" AMD's policies and save a shekel or two for the boys upstairs, then clearly AMD is well within its right to give them the middle finger.

Wait. Think. Learn. Post last.

Again, if this turns out to be extortion, i'll be complaining just as loudly as you. If.
Click to expand...


huh?
 
ecuador said:
Huh? Am I the only one who cannot parse this post?
Click to expand...
The guy's been drinking for breakfast again but what he's basically trying to say, is that if AMD were in Nvidia's market position, they'd be behaving exactly the same (GPP etc). Probably even worse.
 
As the article states, it is not uncommon for certain vendors to be limited in some markets. This is not some new diabolical policy. If ASRock thought AMD were being dicks, they probably would not be starting a graphics card business with AMD chips.
 
odditory said:
The guy's been drinking for breakfast again but what he's basically trying to say, is that if AMD were in Nvidia's market position, they'd be behaving exactly the same (GPP etc). Probably even worse.
Click to expand...

What company wouldn't behave like Nvidia or InteI if in their position? AMD sures as hell would.
 
odditory said:
The guy's been drinking for breakfast again but what he's basically trying to say, is that if AMD were in Nvidia's market position, they'd be behaving exactly the same (GPP etc). Probably even worse.
Click to expand...

So basically, Nvidia is justified because someone else "might do it". :LOL:
 
ManofGod said:
So basically, Nvidia is justified because someone else "might do it". :LOL:
Click to expand...

if it was AMD doing that, you would be one of the first to justify it. so, one side or the other, there will be people defending and justifying that behavior, the same way people justify to ban a new vendor to sell their GPUs in a whole continent, AsRock Gained A LOT of popularity lately with their high quality motherboards, at that point that people started to pick it over things as ASUS or MSI.. lot of people in the european market were willing to go straight with an Asrock branded GPU, now they can't.
 
jfreund said:
As the article states, it is not uncommon for certain vendors to be limited in some markets. This is not some new diabolical policy. If ASRock thought AMD were being dicks, they probably would not be starting a graphics card business with AMD chips.
Click to expand...

The title comes off as they were doing business there and AMD stepped in and banned them.
When in reality, ASRock was alerted to a review site using thier card for review. They contacted the site to state their cards are not sold in that region so their readers won't be mislead.

If HardOCP reviewed a Colorful card and told us it's the best card to buy right now, that would be misinforming us because we don't have "direct" access to that product.
 
My sincere condolences to the intellectual rednecks who cannot parse a simple two phrases.
I'm often dumbfounded by idiocy, but because people be people, i actually read my post again. Who knows, right.

So having read it again, what's so hard that needs expanding or more words?
The techpowerup forums comment? It's where morons go to post. Not here.
The extorting bit? Need one really..?
Or the fact that there may be other factors here, outside any EU regulations, that are in play? Examples of which i go on to illustrate?
Perhaps the fact that prior to knowing, one should be perhaps cautious?
Or that ultimately, if this is because of AMD, i find it just as wrong as GPP?

Nope; all one needs reply with is, honestly, condolences.
 
Aenra said:
My sincere condolences to the intellectual rednecks who cannot parse a simple two phrases.
I'm often dumbfounded by idiocy, but because people be people, i actually read my post again. Who knows, right.

So having read it again, what's so hard that needs expanding or more words?
The techpowerup forums comment? It's where morons go to post. Not here.
The extorting bit? Need one really..?
Or the fact that there may be other factors here, outside any EU regulations, that are in play? Examples of which i go on to illustrate?
Perhaps the fact that prior to knowing, one should be perhaps cautious?
Or that ultimately, if this is because of AMD, i find it just as wrong as GPP?

Nope; all one needs reply with is, honestly, condolences.
Click to expand...

As a person who prides himself on being able to decipher poorly worded things written by people of various ages, allow me to take a stab at this, since I am one of the "idiots" who was not quite sure what you were fully trying to convey in your message...
(Note to mods: This is not a message with any hostile intent)

Aenra said:
Guys? For bestest(11!!1) commentz, it's usually techpowerup.com, not [H]OCP.
Click to expand...
This was understood by me just fine as having a laugh at TPU's expense for generally having less insightful comments/conversations.

If this is an indirect means of extorting AsRock (meaning they gave AMD the finger and good for them), i'm with you, this is very bad; bad because it really is, bad because you cannot tout "freedom" and pretend to be the good guy when you pull exactly the same tricks the other giant does. If.
Click to expand...
This one is where I suspect you stat to cause some eyebrows being raised. Upon second read it's easier to follow. Nevertheless, the initial confusion for me was the start. I'm not sure what AMD would be trying to extort from ASRock, or for that matter, what it is that ASRock has done that you're implying would be giving AMD the finger. Getting passed that, the "bad because it really is" sorta caused a bit of a mental stumble as subconsciously I was still trying to piece together the first part. heh

Because those stickers saying 'AMD' come at a price; that red logo, it too; if someone down the yellow under thought of a 'smart' way to "circumvent" AMD's policies and save a shekel or two for the boys upstairs, then clearly AMD is well within its right to give them the middle finger.
Click to expand...
However, when we reach this part is where a slightly confused brain gets derailed. Mainly because I think you're using some regional phrases that don't carry over to where we live. Particularly in this instance it's "if someone down the yellow under" and "shekel" as to being totally unfamiliar to myself. I haven't a clue what the first phrase could mean, but the second I presumed as being synonymous with "dollar" or "cent" or in other words "save some money", given that "boys upstairs" generally implies the 'upper management' of a company. Since management is always wanting to do the most work for as little as possible, that's my thinking.

Fair to assume, then, that the first part is taken to be meaning "a crafty person", then alright.

But again, I'm still not following what it is ASRock would be trying to "pull a fast one" on AMD for? (In other words, not only am I not sure what ASRock is doing, but why they need to do it in a crafty way?)

Wait. Think. Learn. Post last.

Again, if this turns out to be extortion, i'll be complaining just as loudly as you. If.
Click to expand...
We're no doubt with you, too... Yet, why (or what) is AMD trying to extort (from) ASRock? :confused:


EDIT: Oh, right, I forgot my original reason for coming to post on the subject! heh
My thinking on this is possibly 2 fold...
Firstly, that AMD and ASRock coming out with a product is obviously in relation to GPP. With GPP taking on water (since I can't in good conscious say that the GPP ship is sunk), that the ASRock cards perhaps are not as necessary now?

Secondly, that given the timing of this news, I really can't help it's just sometime to try and paint AMD in poor light... When in fact it is something that is no doubt not that uncommon a thing to happen. However, unlike GPP, we don't know all that much of this story. On the surface "AMD has banned a company from selling their product someone" does sound incredibly bad with 'anti-freedom' undertones. So it'll be interesting to find out more about the story.

I just get a big "Me Too!" vibe on this, with someone trying their own hand at "investigative journalism", is all.
 
Last edited:
AMD trying to avoid infighting between vendors?

or maybe AMD has some kind of protection racket going on.

nice gpu you've got there, be a shame if someone were to ban you from selling it.
 
odditory said:
It wouldn't be AMD's problem. It would be between Asrock and the EU.

Now let's see if saintly AMD gets the same amount of kneejerking and flailing as evil Nvidia over "limiting consumer choice".
Click to expand...

Your posts defending GPP were getting more and more absurd and now you come into this thread and you go one better.

How does this even compare? The article even states that these Bans are commonplace.

How can you not see that this is just a clickbait article, getting hits because GPP is so fresh in people's minds?

And for a person who thinks he is so smart, how is this anti competitive? How is this preventing Nvidia from doing business?
 
Master_shake_ said:
AMD trying to avoid infighting between vendors?

or maybe AMD has some kind of protection racket going on.

nice gpu you've got there, be a shame if someone were to ban you from selling it.
Click to expand...
That's my impression from the limited information presented as well. I just sounds like AMD is afraid inviting ASRock into the EU market at this point will disrupt existing arrangements with other partners.
 
DedEmbryonicCe11 said:
That's my impression from the limited information presented as well. I just sounds like AMD is afraid inviting ASRock into the EU market at this point will disrupt existing arrangements with other partners.
Click to expand...

and where it's the "freedom of choice" marketing campaing? it was only useful when nvidia GPP?. they shouldn't care about any disrupt, right?
 
Reigniting the freedom of choice... hahahahha



Looks like a load of horse shit just like many of us said it was. It was in AMDs corporate interest to use Kyle and they got what they needed out of that one way transaction. This was probably one of the worst decisions Kyle ever made for HardOCP. Let’s see if he’s willing to call out AMD for this (and NVIDIA deserve to be called out too if they do the same thing).
 
DedEmbryonicCe11 said:
That's my impression from the limited information presented as well. I just sounds like AMD is afraid inviting ASRock into the EU market at this point will disrupt existing arrangements with other partners.
Click to expand...
That's what I've read, too. That they are after getting a stronger market foothold in Asia, where these EU partners are not selling their products.

Araxie said:
and where it's the "freedom of choice" marketing campaing? it was only useful when nvidia GPP?. they shouldn't care about any disrupt, right?
Click to expand...
5150Joker said:
Reigniting the freedom of choice... hahahahha

Looks like a load of horse shit just like many of us said it was. It was in AMDs corporate interest to use Kyle and they got what they needed out of that one way transaction. This was probably one of the worst decisions Kyle ever made for HardOCP. Let’s see if he’s willing to call out AMD for this (and NVIDIA deserve to be called out too if they do the same thing).
Click to expand...
See, the difference is that if the above IS true, that AMD has told ASRock they can't sell in EU because of other partner's brands having long since been established there, then AMD is almost.... doing.... the opposite of nVidia. *le gasp*
Where GPP sought to take-over brands which pissed off partners, all AMD is doing is trying to appease the majority of their partners.

Also, where nVidia was looking to actually take away a choice people have had access to for AMD products....
AMD is not taking away anything that had been available to these people for many years. The ASRock Phantom cards are brand spanking new.


Now then, don't get me wrong... I would feel the same way as some of these people, fans of ASRock who were excited about this, as well as ASRock themselves. After all, ASRock partnered with AMD to offset the GPP nonsense, so the least they could do would be permit them to make some money.
However, at the same time, this isn't anything new at all, and examples have already been given that show that.

I can't help but think that this might be the same sort of deal with laptops where different markets are offered vastly different configurations. I remember a few years ago finding a really nice Dell model with an AMD APU with a higher end discrete AMD GPU, but more importantly it had a 1080p screen! Problem was... it was a Euro-only configuration :( The US model came with a lower even dGPU and a crummy lower res screen :\

I know the nV fans are wanting to take this and run with it, but you guys don't ACTUALLY have any argument. Not unless something actually damning comes out.
 
The article is too light on deets and long on speculation. If asrock partnered with AMD then they partnered with AMD.. China card might not me EU card, might not be US card, might not me price, might not be promotion so on.
 
WorldExclusive said:
The title comes off as they were doing business there and AMD stepped in and banned them.
When in reality, ASRock was alerted to a review site using thier card for review. They contacted the site to state their cards are not sold in that region so their readers won't be mislead.

If HardOCP reviewed a Colorful card and told us it's the best card to buy right now, that would be misinforming us because we don't have "direct" access to that product.
Click to expand...
Since when are Internet review sites region locked?
 
Meeho said:
Since when are Internet review sites region locked?
Click to expand...
It is a product from the Asian market thus would not be available in EU and US markets. The review does not have to be region locked but the outcome would be that the target US audience can not purchase the product unless they pay shipping or go to the country that sells these cards.

Master_shake_ said:
AMD trying to avoid infighting between vendors?

or maybe AMD has some kind of protection racket going on.

nice gpu you've got there, be a shame if someone were to ban you from selling it.
Click to expand...
How about AMD made the contract specifically for the Asian market. Then someone (at ASrock) that did have some other intent forgot this and shipped one to Germany. That would make more sense would it not?

DedEmbryonicCe11 said:
That's my impression from the limited information presented as well. I just sounds like AMD is afraid inviting ASRock into the EU market at this point will disrupt existing arrangements with other partners.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a whole lot of nothing where the headline of the story is sensational and there to create clicks rather then substance.
 
odditory said:
The guy's been drinking for breakfast again but what he's basically trying to say, is that if AMD were in Nvidia's market position, they'd be behaving exactly the same (GPP etc). Probably even worse.
Click to expand...
So now regional sales deals are the same as GPP?

This has been going on for years at both AMD and NVIDIA. Some vendors are not available in the EU. And I guess some are probably not available in the US. Like EVGA cards were never sold here in Europe. Or Galax, and a few others.
 
5150Joker said:
Reigniting the freedom of choice... hahahahha
Looks like a load of horse shit just like many of us said it was. It was in AMDs corporate interest to use Kyle and they got what they needed out of that one way transaction. This was probably one of the worst decisions Kyle ever made for HardOCP. Let’s see if he’s willing to call out AMD for this (and NVIDIA deserve to be called out too if they do the same thing).
Click to expand...

LOL it's comical reading your posts.

The article you are reading even mentions that this happens in the industry. Please point out how this hurts Nvidia or prevents them from competing?
 
5150Joker said:
Reigniting the freedom of choice... hahahahha



Looks like a load of horse shit just like many of us said it was. It was in AMDs corporate interest to use Kyle and they got what they needed out of that one way transaction. This was probably one of the worst decisions Kyle ever made for HardOCP. Let’s see if he’s willing to call out AMD for this (and NVIDIA deserve to be called out too if they do the same thing).
Click to expand...


Kyle was not used but, good luck with that line of reasoning. (Wait, are you saying Nvidia was using Kyle when he wrote that negative AMD article about 2 years ago or so? LOL! :D ) Bumpgate, NForce3 gate, drivergate and other things I cannot even think of at the moment. Oh wait, gameworksgate......
 
ManofGod said:
Kyle was not used but, good luck with that line of reasoning. (Wait, are you saying Nvidia was using Kyle when he wrote that negative AMD article about 2 years ago or so? LOL! :D ) Bumpgate, NForce3 gate, drivergate and other things I cannot even think of at the moment. Oh wait, gameworksgate......
Click to expand...
Yeah, Kyle has been used and abused by one company or another in different points in time../s. I guess the VR rankings table he keeps is paid for by AMD even though it is solid green. /s.. Yeah AMD will pay for that because....?
Who knows... but the H is an Arm of AMD so there. /s.

If he ever is really hired by one company or another, so long he says so (i am pretty sure he will, just like he said AMD mentioned some stuff about GPP to him before writing the article) I would be happy for him and follow him all the same. The analysis he does on hardware alone is enough to follow him.
 
I guess that it will be a matter of time, once the supply is plenty should come to all markets, I guess now they are just giving priority to some markets.
 
lukart said:
I guess that it will be a matter of time, once the supply is plenty should come to all markets, I guess now they are just giving priority to some markets.
Click to expand...
There's a new thread on this. It wasn't as it was originally reported and ASRock is primarily going after the miners, and only really selling them in bulk. So it's just as I said: people just trying to paint AMD in a bad light as retaliation for GPP getting verbally canceled. :p
 
Formula.350 said:
There's a new thread on this. It wasn't as it was originally reported and ASRock is primarily going after the miners, and only really selling them in bulk. So it's just as I said: people just trying to paint AMD in a bad light as retaliation for GPP getting verbally canceled. :p
Click to expand...

More of a reminder that the business world is quite a bit different than the imaginary fairy land that most gamers expect.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top