It allows manufacturers to clear old stocks of cables by rebranding them as latest products. USB 1+2/3/4 are basically unrelated standards under the same USB u

It allows manufacturers to clear old stocks of cables by rebranding them as latest products. USB 1+2/3/4 are basically unrelated standards under the same USB umbrella. USB4 especially is just Thunderbolt/PCIe x4 with features. If Betamax was branded as "VHS 2.0" instead of being a separate standard it would have been felt similar to the USB4 situation.