the firmware releases were infrequent, the distro is not fully hardened, the linux kernel is old, and imagine having to get this notice now, at this point, and know that there wont be any further updates that fix future vulns. if u have this product, your firmware is now frozen and youre vulnerable to every future issue that affects it. looks like their support stops in 2029, but imagine these devices stay in place for another 10 years, this is a nightmare scenario for anyone with large deployments. in lots of cases we expect some devices to be in place for up to 45 yrs. still, this system wont make it past 2037, max. imagine running it for 12 more years without any fixes. untenable.

Don't companies with large deployments build in some kind of support deal with their supplier?

Buying large number of a hardware product automatically gives you some preferential treatment, as in both the client and the manufacturer must cooperate deeper just to absorb impacts and make logistics work.

You can't just click to buy a boatload of wireless earphones and have it delivered overnight, because regular boatloads has to go to regular stores. Regular 3-day shipping will become a 3-month delivery reservation or a 18-month supply contract. Potentially a special batch production, shipping, and trucks from port to your warehouse might have to be arranged. At that point the manufacturer might as well accept minor tweaks such as logo tweaks and configuration changes for that manufacturing run, or could even negotiate with you to take one just to prevent that batch disrupting regular consumer sales and supports.

But it won't increase combined total available budget of that operation above combined cumulative margins and cash flows, it won't print money, only distribute more effectively. So your contribution towards total "market cap" of the product might not make up for lost sales if product flopped even if you were an important customer.

yeah but even then, it's still just a contract. The legal math behind Cisco's decision might just be to extend support just long enough to meet obligations and tolerate the risk that the remaining customers might sue.