If I were a manufacturer, I would go into offering upgrades especially when I felt my sales going down, my stocks were fairly low and a new model was in the works, ready to hit or already on the market. I would send the new model to be reviewed in the audio press and would drop the hint, that an upgrade was available. Often it ain't about music, its all about money. The press likes it. It gives them something to write about. But the consumer often is just exploited. That's why we stopped buying ARC from about 20 years ago, because we were getting tired of their upgrade policy, which has not changed to this day. According to their logic, the old stuff must have sounded like crap, which it didn't and the new releases like heaven, which they didn't either.
Is Component "Upgradability" Important ?
I have always been concerned when buying a component that it can be upgraded by the manufacturer at a later date if a new version comes out but I am starting to wonder if this is really that important. I say this because manufacturers are hardly willing to give away upgrades just because you may have purchased an earlier version of their product. It seems as though you will end up spending the same amount of money whether you pay for the conversion to the new model or you sell your old component and put the money towards the cost of a completely new model. I am not sure what is the best way to go for the manufacturer but I am also not sure that having one model physically converted into another model is always the less costly way to go for the consumer.