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planned obsolescence and greed and nothing else
I the case of the first 10spd version of Di2 I think it was a case of finding something better and the first version was orphaned. I doubt Shimano wanted to waste time using a system they ultimately replaced. Anyone smart who didn't jump on di2 v 1.0 saw fairly soon that that system was going to be orphaned and waited. It was a completely different comms system between 10 and 11 spd Di2 (see CANbus) so it wasn't just a firmware update.
hippy
The advantage to my eyes is that you could do 8-speed electronic, or upgrade your 11-speed stuff to 12-speed with just a new cassette and chain, or replace your derailleur for £20 instead of £100, or whatever.
If you've got 10-speed Di2 and want to switch to 11-speed you have to buy a whole new bunch of parts. IMO that is because of planned obsolescence and greed and nothing else; I'm 99% sure that they could have upgraded them to 11-speed through firmware alone. In fact they used to work on 11-speed before Shimano disabled it. How likely is it that current 11-speed eTap is going to work with 12-speed stuff? Not a chance in hell.