my question is: how does that affect a company's strategy? it's not like management is gonna switch models soon as a new shiny one drops. entire workflows depend on specific models working the way they do; you can't just swap out models.

If it's a really really good model, then yes, people will switch as long as the price is right. Ox Alpha is looking to be a really really good model to the point that it competes with Fable/Sol, and will likely beat them on price.

same business model as crack. best way to get people hooked is to make the first hits free.