Yes, the marketing thing.....
I think their is a name for it, something along the lines of "market insertion at all price points" or something like that.
A story from the bicycle world: The greatest mechanical parts maker in the world is from Italy: Campagnolo (OK so the Japanese have some fine stuff too, I know.....) in the good old days (up through the 80's) the only difference between some of parts in the top of the line and the 2nd and third was how many years had elapsed since the last top of the line release, e.g. a 1988 "Victory" part (3rd down the line) was identical to a 1986 "Record" (top of the line) part, whereas a "Chorus" (second) was the same as the 1987 "Record".
This feature was by no means absolutely consistent and their have always been some parts that are only in one line or another, and then sometimes there was a difference in polishing.
But also although the parts may have been the same, they were 3 years late, so amortisation of tooling etc had already been borne in large part by the first year etc.
I guess there might be a philosophical issue here, but I don't think I completely disagreee with the approach, although it can seem cheezy......
I guess the best example of this is really in women's fashion. The price is almost *only* a matter of what the market will bear.
regards,
Bill