To help answer these questions, Kumar teamed with Timothy Derdenger of Carnegie Mellon University on research that culminated in their paper The Dynamic Effects of Bundling as a Product Strategy.

FORBES: Product Bundling is a Smart Strategy -- But There's a Catch

Price discrimination in general, and bundling in particular, is usually a profit-maximising strategy for a producer that enjoys substantial market power, says Mr Economides.

ECONOMIST: Economics focus