HP-12C Platinum EOL?

[rprosperi]

Historically (last 10+ years) the availability status on the HP website of a model is no indication of discontinuation or re-implementation (since the model/sku does not change), but when the model disappears completely, you can conclude the model is discontinued. (note exception below)

On the few occasions where there was actual comment from those 'in the know' the disappearance from the website actually took place many months (to over a year) after production actually ceased, which makes sense given the lag from production to warehousing to distribution to dealers/retailers, etc.

The portion of HP's website that sells calculators is buried within the accessories group (mice, monitors, etc.) which typically have products with life cycles measured in months. The very idea of a given product having an online sales lifespan measured in years (to say nothing of decades) is utterly foreign to them. It is virtually impossible for the Dev guys to exert any influence at all on what is added/removed there, when a new product is launched, it is added, and well after an old one is discontinued it is removed. There really isn't much else to know about it, tragic as that is.

As for why the Prime is sometimes there / sometimes not, and sometimes in-stock, sometimes out-of-stock, no satisfactory answers have ever formally been stated, but many manufacturers often do this to 'make nice' with their customers that also sell online, to not 'compete' with them. Typically, the product does stay listed, but is usually out of stock. In this case, why its very presence is dynamic is anyone's guess.

Solid answers from those that know would be nice, but I've long since given up hoping to see facts.