My guess is that the “discount” phenomenon has a somewhat more innocent explanation; it’s the result of aggressive inventory management and sophisticated dynamic pricing models. Launch at a high price to snag the price-insensitive customers, and gradually discount down to pull in the lower end of the market and keep your unit volume relatively predictable (very helpful for just-in-time inventory management).
[0]: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b9b38b61c935105b8a...
I wonder if that means the Pixel line is a much cheaper flagship, if the discount price is assumed to be the actual price execs are targeting after launch. I got a Pixel 2 then later a 3 for like 2/3 sticker price off promos by vendors and I'm happy with the price/features/etc. But I wouldn't pay launch price or it.
It has been established as a norm annoyingly to those who would rather not have the noise.
Have the effective prices gone up? Or have "normal prices" gone up and discounts increased in lockstep?
The discount trickery plays into it. You never notice the price increases at first as it's fairly standard all around from what i've seen to raise the base price during a sale, to the point where i've seen them raise the base price at the same time a sale starts then, cross out the new 'old' price and show how great of a sale it is. Then the sale ends and the price is higher.