Nobody wants to invest in hardware alone. If you make hardware, you have to have some way of growing your income. Those quarterlies are expected to always rise. Now, it's hard to make devices more expensive because people will stop buying them (generally) or put off buying a new one for as long as they can. BUT, if you make the consumables more expensive, people will continue to buy those because they have too. Yay! Your quarterlies show growth. You're a hero! But wait, what if someone tries to undercut you by selling consumables cheaper!? THE HORROR! What do you do? Well, you start doing all sorts of fuckery. And here we are.
