Collectively: "why would we upgrade just one generation?"
Like, sure, I have a Threadripper 1st and 2nd gen. I'm weird like that. I have a VII and a 7900 XTX. But the 7xxx is fine. I went from TR 2950X to the 7800X3D. Do I want more cores? Fuck yeah. Am I going to pay thousands of dollars for a modern high-core TR? Lmfao no.
If I was building a new machine for someone, sure, 9xxx. But shit, even a 3xxx in my network is still kicking ass. Why the hell would I upgrade when I don't want to? And the 7xxx is cheaper and - mostly - offers the same performance.
Drop the price if they want to sell more, simple as that. And don't expect upgrades every release family.
Let's use the car as an example.... Imagine you must get to point B from point A following all the rules of the road which prevent the 🚓 🚨 police from chasing you and shooting you until they run out of bullets. Well then you will be on highway 5 at some point if you're in California, so let's assume you can't go faster than 85mph but at 5pm or 8am you can only go 2mph. So why would you buy a car that can drive at 5000mph is you don't want to? I totally agree with you on that point. Why eat ice cream 🍨🍦 if I don't want to....and it costs 10billion times more than not actually eating ice cream?
Same for cpus. Why get a new CPU if they put some bullshit things in it that your Linux can't use because they are made specifically for windows 11 and no one wants to use windows 11. Friends don't let friends use windows 11. Heck I wouldn't drive over a cat and then let the cat get windows 11. Only let the people you hate the most actually get windows 11. Like your boss. Fuck him. Let him get windows 11!