https://qz.com/1133986/heres-what-you-learn-from-the-biggest-black-friday-discounts-of-2017-charted/

Another Black Friday is approaching, which means it’s time for consumer technology companies to start slashing prices—and looking at which prices are cut can be revealing.

Whether it’s emptying out last year’s products from warehouses or trying to corner a specific market, Black Friday deals are a significant tool for manufacturers. Relative newcomers to the Black Friday scene, like Google and Microsoft, are using it to rope new customers into their software ecosystems with heavy price reductions on smart speakers. It’s a move from Amazon’s playbook, which the company is again applying to its entry-level tablet, the Fire 7. These companies also tend to offer their own subscription services, like Google Play Music or Amazon Prime Video, meaning these gadgets continue to generate additional revenue long after their Black Friday sales.