[walterbell]

> Another example of this: managed vs unmanaged routers

Do you mean something like Amazon eero vs generic OpenWRT routers? Eero has a few different hardware editions, usually segmented by WiFi speed. They also have a monthly subscription for additional software features. Presumably they make most of their revenue from subscriptions, with a small margin on the router hardware.

[derefr]

No, I mean like companies like Linksys that have product lines with model names that all just look like "N-port network switch, [un]managed" for different prices, that are only differentiated by the number of ports and what firmware is installed on them.

In these product lines, not only do the managed switches cost more than their unmanaged equivalents, but you also only get the option for a managed switch after a certain number of ports.