Yes—-there has got to be more to the story-otherwise they could hire a sophomore Econ major, learn about elasticity, and pull in exponentially higher earnings.

Yes—-there has got to be more to the story-otherwise they could hire a sophomore Econ major, learn about elasticity, and pull in exponentially higher earnings. I have seen contracts between large manufacturers where one pre-purchases exclusivity variants, like: 1) Exclusive licensing for x years 2) Exclusive licensing for x years after the first time buyer deploys tech not to exceed W years (usually 10) 3) Very limited sales/licensing to others This smells like (3) + (2) here.