Selling last year's model as a budget option was a Steve Jobs decision. It started with the iPhone 3G, which remained on sale in 2009 for a lower price, after t

Selling last year's model as a budget option was a Steve Jobs decision. It started with the iPhone 3G, which remained on sale in 2009 for a lower price, after the 3Gs was released. Expanding SKUs was also a Jobs decision. He cut the computer line back to the quadrants in the late 90s as a way to triage the company. But later he oversaw the introduction of multiple new product lines, models, sizes, and color combinations. Critics fretted about focus when he introduced the Cube, when he introduced the iPod, when he introduced the Macbook Air, when he introduced the iPad, when he introduced the Xserve, when he introduced the Hi-Fi. Some of them worked, some of them didn't. The ones that worked, really worked well though.