[alethiophile]

See also, the related phenomenon of a company introducing a new, notionally superior product line at a higher price than the original, then somewhat later discontinuing the original, while never reducing the price of the new one. This results in the cheapest available product becoming more expensive, without this appearing in inflation statistics.

I have the most exposure to this in the realm of medical products. A family member has Type I diabetes, and so must continually buy insulin and blood testing supplies as an everyday expense; several times, he has been forced to switch products (between varieties of insulin, from purely chemical test strips to ones with an electronic reader, &c.) by the discontinuance of the older product. The new one is always much more expensive, and never reduces in price to match the old; this has resulted in a significant increase in his expenses for these supplies, despite nothing ever occurring that would appear in inflation statistics.

[jasode]

>, the related phenomenon of a company introducing a new, notionally superior product line at a higher price than the original,

Yes, and airlines charging a new extra fees for baggage when they used to be included in the base airfare is another form of inflation. This "shrouded pricing" is used to hide price increases in various industries.

[jacquesm]

This is strongly related to 'unbundling'.

[mobiletelephone]

Another example: products get slightly smaller but remain he same price. Often packaging can hide the change.