This one has been bothering me for a while now. Why did companies like butterfly labs release ASIC miners. Back when they first made them, 5 gh/s was hard to come by and the ASIC did it in just one unit. Here is the thing that makes me confused, they release the units for a small profit and they flood the market with them, making it even harder to mine. Why not keep them for themselves and mine the majority of the bitcoins using the ASIC units. With as much processing power they have, they could of found a bitcoin block everyday. I understand there was competition too, but still, why?
I read somewhere a while back when someone else asked this very same question this response: that during the gold rush in the 1800s in the US, it wasn't the average miner making big bucks in that day and age, but rather the guy selling the pickaxes and other mining supplies. Perhaps the same holds true here?
I don't know if I buy into that, but it was an interesting response. Unlike gold mining though, these manufacturers would likely be guaranteed some cash flow, unlike a bunch of rusty old pickaxes gathering dust in a shed (or even these suppliers going out to mine for themselves could be a bust). I suppose it isn't a 1:1 comparison.
I'm rambling.
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