Contracts can absolutely require you to deliver something in the future. That's often the entire point. Penalties for failure to deliver often depend on circums

Contracts can absolutely require you to deliver something in the future. That's often the entire point. Penalties for failure to deliver often depend on circumstance -- e.g. "our bargaining position got better and we want a higher price" isn't an acceptable excuse but "oops, looks like an act of god destroyed your chips, now you'll have to pay the higher price" is. Laws play a role too. The most egregious market manipulation tactics are often illegal, especially when monopolies are involved. Of course, this doesn't do much to dissuade the manipulation itself, but it does make companies jump through hoops to disguise what they're doing. Samsung can't send a video of someone in a Darth Vader costume saying "The deal has changed." to their customers, because that would be a smoking gun and easy to prosecute. "Oops, 3% of the product was destroyed, looks like prices will just have to go up" achieves the same end but keeps plausible deniability in tact. Or it could be a legitimate accident. There is certainly no shortage of things to go wrong. Just remember: Hanlon's razor is trivial to exploit. Live by Hanlon's razor, die by Hanlon's razor.