The video evaluates AMD’s progress by revisiting past product launch failures and concludes that with the RDNA4 series, AMD has significantly improved in pricing strategy, marketing accuracy, and feature reliability compared to the problematic RDNA3 generation. While some minor issues remain, AMD’s more realistic product positioning, better communication, and higher-quality launches indicate a more mature and customer-focused approach.
The video revisits AMD’s history of product launch failures, particularly focusing on their RDNA3 graphics cards, and evaluates whether the company has improved with the launch of their RDNA4 series. Previously, AMD made several critical mistakes such as setting excessively high launch prices, overhyping product performance through inaccurate benchmarks, and releasing key features in a broken state. These missteps led to poor reviews and damaged AMD’s reputation. The presenter systematically revisits twelve key failures identified in an earlier video to assess AMD’s progress.
One of the major improvements highlighted is AMD’s more sensible pricing strategy with RDNA4. Unlike the RDNA3 generation, which featured poorly positioned products like the RX7900 XT priced too close to the flagship but with significantly lower performance, RDNA4 cards such as the RX970 XT and RX960 XT 16 GB are competitively priced against Nvidia’s offerings. Although some pricing inconsistencies remain, such as with the RX970 and the controversial 8 GB RX960 XT, AMD has largely avoided the severe pricing blunders of the past. Additionally, AMD has avoided repeating the same pricing mistakes multiple times, a problem that plagued previous generations.
AMD has also improved in how they handle product launches to avoid negative reviews. The RDNA4 launch featured better initial impressions with products priced and positioned more realistically, avoiding the backlash experienced with RDNA3. Unlike before, AMD has not had to make significant price adjustments shortly after launch, which previously hurt customer confidence and sales momentum. Furthermore, AMD has eliminated last-minute pricing changes during launch, ensuring smoother communication with reviewers and the media.
In terms of marketing and benchmarking, AMD has made significant strides. They no longer overestimate or overhype product performance and have improved the accuracy of their internal benchmarking processes. Unlike previous launches where misleading or poorly configured benchmarks damaged trust, RDNA4 marketing data has been more reliable and reflective of real-world performance. Moreover, AMD has avoided announcing features too early and has successfully launched new technologies like FSR4 in popular, well-received games, delivering these features in a high-quality, functional state from day one.
Finally, AMD has learned from past mistakes that led to technical issues and negative customer experiences. They avoided releasing broken features like the problematic FSR3 launch and have maintained better control over driver features to prevent game-breaking bugs, such as those caused by the earlier Anti-Lag Plus feature. Overall, while not perfect, AMD has shown considerable improvement in product launches, pricing, marketing, and feature rollouts with RDNA4, signaling a more mature and customer-focused approach compared to previous years.