When existing products are given superficial changes and marketed as new to maximize profits is referred to as

planned obsolescence  

Explanation:

Planned obsolescence is a marketing strategy that focuses on deliberately launching new versions of existing products that are only slightly changed, but they make the existing product obsolete. The most common example are minor changes in cars made every year that make them the new version, while major changes only occur every 5 or 6 years. Another example is using irreplaceable batteries in smartphones, tablets or notebooks. Once the batteries start to fail, you have to replace the whole product.

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