Car manufacturers been doing this for years
This reminds me of premium car brands. Every few years they cycle through a period of static pricing or hefty discounts to hook in a new round of customers. Margins suffer but sales volume and brand exposure gain. Then at Model Year X they introduce some shiny and drive the pricing back up - accepting they will lose some buyers but knowing they will profit more heavily off those that remain, and reinforcing the 'premium' part of their brand.
Range Rover did it last year across their range (initially the Velar, then migrating some of the bling to other models and abandoning what had become routine discounts alongside increasing base RRP). The year before Volvo did the same when they moved their entire -60 series to their new platform, overnight discounts of up to 25% disappeared and RRP increased.
Apple have waded a few (still immensely profitable) years seeding their user base through 'cheap' MacBook Airs, iPhone SEs and legacy iPads, that then populate their Apple Music, TV, iCloud, whatever. Now they push out the discount versions, increase the base price and even more heavily monetise the wallet-leaking-system they've created. The hardware cycle may slow, but each unit is more profitable, and each year between upgrades still delivers revenues through the ancillary services. It's that last bit that car manufacturers could never quite crack.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
