[tw04]

I'm sure. It's one thing to be told "Hey, there's a new model right around the corner. But we have this guy on a steep discount to clear out inventory."

vs. "Hey, we have this great sale going on. What, new model? Naww, we are just having a sale!!"

The incumbent MFG's literally have "new inventory" sales on their last-years model to clear out inventory. They let you know well in advance that a new car is coming with new features so you can make an informed decision.

[taneq]

> It's one thing to be told "Hey, there's a new model right around the corner. But we have this guy on a steep discount to clear out inventory."

Is this not what "hey this 1-2 year old model is on super duper sale right now, it's really cheap, you should buy it!" means? Is a steep discount on older stock not always code for "better shift these before new model comes out"?

You see Apple fanboys fall for this one every time, too. "Yay I got a new iPhone 5 last week and it was SO CHEAP, I'm a genius... wait wtf they just announced the iPhone 6."

[vsl]

“Fanboys” don’t, they’re well aware a new iPhone is coming in September. And no, Apple doesn’t lower old iPhone prices until after the new is on sale.

[Anasufovic]

I think we know which path leads to better sales.

[usrusr]

Both, depending on where in the company lifecycle the sales happen.

The upstart, by virtue of simply not yet having that many potential repeat customers around, is targeting first time buyers. The goodwill created by having as little obsolescence as possible far outweighs the extra sales they might get through it. This tradeoff changes significantly once a company is established and the number of potential repeat customers is high. Now it's always a balance between repeat sale likelihood and repeat sale cycle duration.

Different forms of obsolescence have different effects in different markets. E.g. unlike smartphone makers, car manufacturers tread very carefully when it comes to longevity. Red book value and all that. So what do they do? They have perfected the generational model update cycle. New generation cars are literally designed to make the predecessor look old, because that is the most acceptable repeat sale driver. Tesla just isn't there yet.

[kmonsen]

And which path leads to buyers remorse.

[Anasufovic]

It's similar to iPhones, countless complaints yet those same people keep buying them.

[Vik1ng]

Really? iPhones seem to have somewhat predictable cycles. I have owned 4 and every time I pretty much knew when a new one would come out.

[rblatz]

iPhone 7s or maybe iPhone 10 will ship around September 20th 2017.