AMD has been very competitive. The 290 released at $400 and was faster than the 780Ti and the Titan. Retail on the 290X was $550 went as high as $900 due to demand. The 290X was the top card for almost a year. It's funny that me being a recent fan of AMD didn't even realize this until now. That's how tainted their image is. In Oct/Nov 2013 they released the 290s and had the best cards until the following Sept. All anyone ever talks about is the 970 though.
The R9 290 and 290X's reference cooler was not very good, the cards were panned by review sites for being hot and extremely loud. To make matters worse, AMD and its partners didn't get non-reference coolers out that actually showed how awesome the card was until 2-3 months later. This led to a stigma that the R9 290 cards ran hot and loud, it was a disaster for AMD.
Around the time the non-reference cards starting hitting the cryptocurrency crazy was in full effect also, I remember seeing a Tri-X (one of the best custom 290X's) for $900 on Newegg, more than a 780 Ti.
Basically yes, 290/290X were great cards, but the launch was super botched due to the delay in getting custom cards out and the mining craze later causing prices to spike, putting them out of reach for most normal gamers.
390/390X launch went a lot smoother, although basically the same card if you compare reviews you'll see how much more positive reviewers were about them. That's because all the 390 series models were not based on the reference design.
That's not true. The
290X was faster than the 780 and Titan, but the 290 was below both those (traded blows with the 780 but lost to the Titan). The
780 Ti was a response to the 290/290X, and beat both of them. The 780 Ti was a bit of a beast, still trades blows with the R9 390 in a few instances.
780 Ti only beats it in reviews because the 290X reference design throttled big time. If you compare a 290X with custom cooler to the 780 Ti, 290X beats it.