I don't know where Nvidia's headspace is, but in general corporations *do* understand that consumers are more sentimental than businesses. This is especially true with today's influencer culture that (for better or worse) enjoys serious sway over consumer sentiment. Therefore, even though math may dictate the optimal (price*volume) point to be at a higher price point in the short term, this may end up being sub-optimal in the long term if it drives consumers away from the brand due to negative sentiment.
Yes, this too. It's similar to the consumer-sentiment problem in the sense that maximizing short-term profits may come at the risk of longer-term profits.
It's certainly possible, but NV doesn't appear to be a short-sighted company. A rational thesis would be that they are aware of the risk and are balancing it.
All that said, there's a difference between maintaining vs. lowering vs. increasing margins. Based on what I know about the state of the foundry industry I believe they are simply choosing to maintain overall margins on the consumer GPU side, and the cost increases are being transferred to the consumer instead of being absorbed. One may still ask whether it's prudent of them to do so, and whether it would have been better for them to eat some of the costs to keep the market more vibrant (the same short-term vs. long-term argument).
