1. To simplify manufacturing for different markets that have different keyboard layouts. Most keyboard controllers in the world are not programmable but are fix

1. To simplify manufacturing for different markets that have different keyboard layouts. Most keyboard controllers in the world are not programmable but are fixed-function, with the matrix defined by the chip's manufacturer even. 2. For multilingual users. Allows them to switch keyboard layout easily. Even many European programmers switch to US-ANSI to get easier access to programming-language symbols such as ~ ^ [ { } ] , and back to type in their native layout which could have other symbols on those physical keys.