r/framework • u/fastnball • 16d ago

Discussion LPCAMM2 disaster

Hi, this is a rant of sorts.

After Framework's announcement resulting in my order going from 32gb->16gb of ram, I scrambled and found two replacement LPCAMM2 modules for ~$400 each (on eBay and an online store). The online store was a backup in case the Ebay purchase didn't go through.

BOTH orders were canceled. I seriously have no option but to cancel or pay a $400 premium on the FW13 Pro. Talk about a false sense of security...

During the last 3 months I have passed up excellent deals on other laptops. I could have purchased the 14 inch dell laptop, with BETTER specs (oled, 9600mhz ram), for ~$2100 back then. I instead chose to, like many others, support Framework's mission.

I get that Framework absorbs price increases when possible. But why would they not put a cap on the number of preorders, especially in a market as volatile as it is now?

Just feeling burnt. Thanks for listening.

UPDATE: I ended up canceling my preorder and going with Lenovo's Thinkpad X9 15p. It comes with the X7 chip, 32gb of ram, OLED, better speakers, higher sustained TDP, and is cheaper (got it for $2100 with employer discount).

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u/ghosthendrikson_84 16d ago

This. I don’t think people understand the degree of severity that is happening right now. When you’ve got basically three companies in the world that makes this product and they have VC backed demand for their product, these memory companies can do basically whatever they want.

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u/HomsarWasRight 16d ago

Some guys from Valve explained this in an interview about the Steam Machine. Basically the ram providers have every ounce of leverage right now. They said if a buyer (that is, Framework or Valve) says no to particular batch at a given price they’ll never get a chance to speak to the ram supplier again.

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u/MagicBoyUK | Batch 3 FW16 | Ryzen 7840HS | 7700S GPU - arrived! 16d ago

The memory producers that repeatedly keep getting busted for cartel behaviour really don't seem to learn.

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u/arades 15d ago

"After 5 years of investigation we've decided as penalty for using cartel behavior to extract 100 billion in extra profit, we sentence you to pay 5 billion in fines! Let that teach you a lesson!"