Originally Posted by
terrymorse
To be fair to the thread, that's a very difficult question to answer. Getting a real answer would require access to companies' detailed financial data, which are private.
So we're left with speculation and opinion. Given my limited view into how companies operate, I speculate that company management sets a target range of gross profit margin, and any model that falls below that margin is soon to be cut from the product line. I suspect "halo products" that don't meet a company's profit target are quite rare.
I think that depends on how they see the halo product - does it have to make a profit itself? Or is enough that it brings in buyers of less lofty products? Take the Aethos. In addition to the S-Works versions, there are cheaper, heavier, less expensively kitted versions, of which I suspect they sell more than the S-works versions. But I'm working in the same absence of data you mentioned. So this is all handwaving...