ZORRAM

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Batch 7 already so more than 3000 preorders right now.

I couldn't care less about this product (well not at this price at least), but if it works for them AND helps bring some more retro-computing goodness, or even some brand new one in line with their past greatness, who am I to say it isn't ok?

@Turrican3

Exactly that.

It was interesting to watch the overall negative tone of threads (and discord) turn positive on a dime when people realized sales figures held more weight than their own opinion of the viability of the product.

#6

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OneTimer1 Quote:

First world problems and most of them are US specific and made in the USA.

Memory shortages due to AI are a global problem. Maybe data centers are not going up in most of the EU because of high energy prices due to political choices. Northern Europe has cooler weather providing free cooling, a cost advantage, and Norway at least was smart enough not to join the EU so is not limited by EU energy policies. EU heavy industry, mostly in Germany, is declining because of green energy policies making energy more expensive although it is being partially replaced by higher tech R&D and manufacturing. The EU and UK have doubled down on green energy which is more expensive often outsourcing energy intensive "dirty" products but any improvement in energy security is more than offset by product reliance elsewhere. While so much global production has switched to Asia, much of the energy came from the Middle East although Asian nations are currently diversifying their sources of energy for energy security reasons. America, and not just the US, is providing a larger percentage of global energy needs despite longer distances. Some energy intensive production is moving here also, partially due to tariffs as well. There are AI centers going up all over the US including near me. There are places here where natural gas is free as it is a byproduct of oil extraction and some areas do not have pipelines to move it where it is needed. There is also push back in some places to building AI data centers because of noise, potential to increase energy costs locally and lack of adequate power infrastructure nearby. The same is true in northern Europe as well. It is likely that all the planned AI build out will not happen because of lack of energy and energy infrastructure not to mention a likely hype driven bubble in AI.

Not much of the Apple iPhone is produced or assembled in the US. The Corning Gorilla glass is about it although TSMC chip production may eventually be partially moved here and would diversify supply chains. Production and assembly is almost all done in Asia while R&D is done in the US. Apple is a fabless semiconductor developer but not as vertically integrated as Commodore after acquiring MOS and at least one US based chip foundry, which turned into a liability. I am no huge Apple fan as they are a mixed bag. They make high quality aesthetically pleasing products which are easy to use which I like but their products are proprietary and expensive which I do not like. I bought Apple stock during a pullback as it approached a one trillion USD market cap with some investors worried that a one trillion market cap was too big for a growing business. I usually avoid growth stocks choosing to invest in higher dividend paying stocks than the ~1.5% dividend yield as I recall but their cash per share is what persuaded me. They were practically a bank and producing more successful products than flops, even if Asian copycat competitors were taking market share. Chances were high that they could innovate new products, rely on brand strength and increase cash flow from subscriptions. Apple is a $4.1 trillion USD business today and there are 16 publicly traded businesses with a $1+ trillion USD market cap showing how irrational it was to believe that a $1 trillion market cap business was too big to grow. The Apple (AAPL) stock price is up 1,972% since that time but the dividend yield is now only 0.38% which is back in growth stock territory. They have increased their dividend but the dividend yield goes down as the price goes up. I usually look for a higher dividend yield and play the safer compounding interest game.

Early Chevron stock investors now earn 12.1% dividend yield
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/early-chevron-cvx-stock-investors-now-earn-a-12-1-dividend-yield

I have owned CVX longer than in this article and some stock purchases are earning a higher compound dividend yield than this. These "dirty" energy businesses have been defunded by the energy policies of some nations and are out of favor with investors which provides a contrarian buying opportunity with a 4%+ starting dividend. They are contracting with businesses building AI data centers including recently Microsoft.

CAT | CVX | GEV | MSFT | Chevron Signs 20-Year Power Agreement with Microsoft for West Texas Data Center
https://www.reddit.com/r/StockTitan/comments/1ucilw9/cat_cvx_gev_msft_chevron_signs_20year_power/

I own CAT and GEV too but not MSFT. I am likely up a higher percentage with CAT than APPL if counting compounded dividends because the dividend yield was substantially higher when I bought it. Both CAT and GEV have been good plays on the AI boom while "dirty" energy stocks like CVX trade like energy is not the limiting factor in the AI boom. I know investors who are up more in Mag 7 growth stocks and have made more than me in the stock market by the way.

OneTimer1 Quote:

I never bought a mobile over 200€ I never bought something from Apple I never bought something from Musk Most people are spending to much money on things they don't really need.

I am afraid not only rising memory prices are global but inflation is global and you may not be able to get much of a "mobile" smartphone for less than 200€ before too long. With that attitude, you may end up as an opa giving 1€ to kinder with them trying to figure out what they can buy with it.

#6 Quote:

It was interesting to watch the overall negative tone of threads (and discord) turn positive on a dime when people realized sales figures held more weight than their own opinion of the viability of the product.

The Callback had a good first day that was better than expected and better than the C64U but this result is relative. The C64DTV sold 70,000 units the first day for example. Still pretty good for mostly social media grassroots marketing and pre-orders with the product potentially not finished yet. The C64U was a known working product and the Callback is boosted by its success but there are more unknowns.

Last edited by matthey on 01-Jul-2026 at 01:37 AM.

@matthey

Quote:

The Callback had a good first day that was better than expected and better than the C64U but this result is relative. The C64DTV sold 70,000 units the first day for example.

True. But is it not also relative that the C64DTV sold for 25 USD that day? Surely when you analyze "profit", this narrows the gap in comparing these 2 sales events.

The thrust of my short post was simply about money raised anyway.

btw-since Jeri as designer of the C64DTV is also now advisor to Commodore, doesn't that count more as a plus as well?

#6

Last edited by number6 on 01-Jul-2026 at 02:02 AM.

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#6 Quote:

True. But is it not also relative that the C64DTV sold for 25 USD that day? Surely when you analyze "profit", this narrows the gap in comparing these 2 sales events.

They are different. The $25 USD in 2004 would be ~$44 USD today but more importantly there is a difference in the price and performance of entry level hardware. There was not as much competition then or as cheap of gaming hardware. The PS1 was ~$100 but the PS2 offered more value at ~$200. The SNES and successor N64 had been selling for ~$100 but were discontinued in 2003 as the GameCube reached a similar price. None of the ~$100 competitors include anywhere near the number of value added games. The C64DTV price and number of included built in games was very competitive and influential as it could be considered the beginning of minis except done right with an ASIC. Commodore was a better recognized brand name then and there was no RPI replacing Commodore and producing affordable computers for the masses.

#6 Quote:

The thrust of my short post was simply about money raised anyway.

This is a good point and another difference. The Callback pre-orders may be more like crowd funding of a project rather than sales of a finished product like the C64DTV. This funding method removes some of the risk of small volume production and is not unusual in the retro market as RGL uses it too. There is a time value of money which some potential customers realize and avoid pre-orders like this but there are others who say take my money.

#6 Quote:

btw-since Jeri as designer of the C64DTV is also now advisor to Commodore, doesn't that count more as a plus as well?

If Jeri is so involved, where is the Commodore augmented reality glasses with built in phone, WiFi and Bluetooth? Wait, would that be digital immersion instead of digital detox?

Last edited by matthey on 01-Jul-2026 at 03:49 AM.

@matthey

Quote:

EU heavy industry, mostly in Germany, is declining because of green energy policies making energy more expensive although it is being partially replaced by higher tech R&D and manufacturing.

Yet green energy itself is vastly cheaper, however imposing levies on polluting energy tech funds the transitions so its a mere roadbump.

@number6

Quote:

It was interesting to watch the overall negative tone of threads (and discord) turn positive on a dime when people realized sales figures held more weight than their own opinion of the viability of the product.

That's more than a bit condescending #6. Snarky if you prefer.

I'm just catching up with this Commodore purchase thing myself, and I'd summarise the negative tone as:

1. Christian has previously criticised such tie ins (no idea if he has; I find his Youtube output irritating and not to my taste, YMMV) so looks like a hypocrite.

2. People don't the lecture about digital detox.

3. It's diminished the "brand" (not that much could to be frank, a rapidly drying puddle of interest) and is not the revival people wanted to see.

4. It's massively overpriced for what it is.

5. A smaller amount of "not viable".

Personally I don't find 7k units on order to be massive. You could sell tens of thousands of Commodore branded boomerangs.

Where the "turn around" is happening in views I'd summarise it as people feeling that if it means the loan can be paid back or potentially fund something that isn't shovelware in the future.

Let's see what happens if and when people actually get it en-masse.


It does look quite nasty to me, but then so did the original C64.

@number6

Quote:

It was interesting to watch the overall negative tone of threads (and discord) turn positive on a dime when people realized sales figures held more weight than their own opinion of the viability of the product.

Regarding all the naysayers, I'm reminded of what Teddy Roosevelt once said:

"It is not the critic who counts" (a must listen if you haven't heard it before)

As for me, I'd rather cheer on the Man in the Arena (Mr. Fractic et. al.), knowing full well that victory is never a guarantee. Either way - daring greatly is the point.

Last edited by jingof on 03-Jul-2026 at 08:55 PM.
Last edited by jingof on 03-Jul-2026 at 04:53 PM.

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@number6

my personal view does not change just because of the sales. I do not see the market where it fits but there seem to be people attracted by it and willing to buy. Good for Commodore because otherwise Commodore would have been at the end already