Sony's decision to resurrect the WH-1000XM4 under a new name and a lower price reflects a familiar tension in consumer technology: the past does not simply disappear, it gets repriced. By reintroducing a six-year-old headphone as the WH-1000XM4C at €249.99, the company is betting that value, not novelty, drives a meaningful portion of its market. The move speaks to how product lifecycles are no longer clean arcs but layered strata, where older generations are repositioned rather than retired.