Curious Why Benz Micro Slid Into Obscurity

I was and still am an avid fan of the BM cartridges. Going back a few years, myself, along with a few others shared our stories and experiences on this very forum. I believe many are still enjoying them, have moved on, or experienced life matters. I have four of them; Benz LP, 2 Benz LP-S, and a Benz Ruby Z. All were mounted on SME V tonearms. I somehow ended up in the Soundsmith world and have a Hyperion MK2 and a Sussaro MK2. Now, I am playing around with an Air Tight Opus 1 that I acquired last year prior to moving. I also have the Transrotor TRA-9 gold tonearm. I am out of tonearm real estate, LOL. The BM was my standard for great sound and general 
 

I think the BM cartridges hit outside their league compared to other higher priced cartridges. It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison of the LPS Vs  Hana Red. BTW, when I was living in Europe, I sent my Benz LP to the Benz Micro  factory in Switzerland for a retip. The retip was done by Mr. Lukaschek. 

If a brand does not continue to advertise or does not develop new models, it is not at all indicative that the company is in crisis.
Unfortunately, there are many enthusiasts who, if they are not stimulated by new products and intense advertising, go through withdrawal and end up in depression, with enormous pleasure for psychologists.
I don’t like constant innovation, innovation is not always an indication of improvement, perhaps in terms of measurements but listening ears could say the opposite and I don’t appreciate factories that put new products on the market that replace older ones at an incessant pace, but I believe that a company is serious even if it doesn’t have anything new to show for some time.
Let me start by saying that I have never had a Benz but I appreciate manufacturers who keep their products in the catalog for a long time.

I don’t like constant innovation, innovation is not always an indication of improvement, perhaps in terms of measurements but listening ears could say the opposite and I don’t appreciate factories that put new products on the market that replace older ones at an incessant pace, but I believe that a company is serious even if it doesn’t have anything new to show for some time.

@best-groove  I love that! Well said. This especially applies to phono cartridges. Not that new tech and materials aren't great, but I think it's too easy to upset the delicate balance and lose the beauty of sound here. I prefer good old aluminum bodies over (say) carbon fiber or exotic-wood-flavor-of-the-month. Copper coils and iron armatures are hard to beat. And aluminum cantilevers are underrated (though Benz incorporates boron absolutely beautifully). 

Actually, in the “good old days”, cartridge bodies of all types were typically made of plastic. Inexpensive and both strong and stiff plastic. Koetsu was fairly unique in offering wood bodies with exotic Japanese lacquer finishes. Metal bodies heralded the “modern era”. Ortofon was one of the first to offer titanium, although someone else may point out otherwise. Anyway with metal bodies and good marketing higher prices than ever before could be rationalized.

Is the Gullwing really just an LP-S without the wood body ?