Nikon marketing at its peek performance

Now that I have the Nikon D90 I decided I spent some hard earned dosh on a serious lens. Not serious enough for a pro, but better than the cheapest one in the range. That would be the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED.

I wanted to buy something faster than the 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 and I didn't need the professional 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR...
I have just browsed about all camera shop websites, and in an hour or two it was only a matter of price. As it is a "good" habit of shops just listing the expensive lenses on their websites but not keeping a single one in shop, I wrote a mail, just checking if the 80-200mm is available. The reply was interesting: "Nikon just sends the price every time but never shipped this lens for a year now".
Uhh, ohh.

It is good that I have some Nikon website account, so I asked for some professional help. And the bad news came straight from the UK. This lens is discontinued in this region and I should check the 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S because it is far more "superior".
As its price tag.

First: it is good to live in Central Europe, as every piece of hardware is about 30% more expensive than in the USA. Or 50%.

Second: If the average Joe wants to spend 1200-1700$ on a semi-pro lens between the 70-300mm for about 800$ (500$ the US) and the 70-200mm AF-S for 2500$ (1900$ in the US) chances are great that he/she will buy something good 3rd party lens instead. That would be the worst to happen to Nikon, the marketing guys must fill this hole soon.

Third: This lens is marked as "new" on Nikon's Japanese website.