That maybe the case in North America but here in the UK we started to get a trickle of cards through in the past 3 to 4 weeks. Only 2 of the big 4 e-tailers in the UK have HD5870's in stock, and they will set you back around about 530USD. The 5970 has only just reached our shores and can be had at 1 of the 4 major e-tailers for 860USD
John