Originally introduced to reduce price competition, product differentiation has subsequently led to unexpected effects on the supply of products. In particular, it has made it possible to deploy a diverse range of product offerings according to the heterogenity of tastes and incomes in the consumer population. Driven by competition to occupy all the market niches left open by their competitors, companies have developed variants so diverse that practically no category of consumers has been deprived of its ideal variant, provided that the cost of production of this variant did not exceed its marginal profitability. The achievement of this diversity has required companies to adapt production methods, in particular through the development of flexible technologies that make it possible to multiply the variants of the same good on the basis of a single prototype. This diversification of supply, accompanied by increased flexibility in production technologies, has led to a considerable increase in consumption in the regions where it has taken place, thereby providing constant support for economic activity, with the resulting positive consequences for the maintenance of employment and income generation. The diversification of the supply of consumer goods has been a fundamental factor in the development of Western economies. The underlying dynamics of this development and why it is so difficult to develop in countries that are not yet benefiting from its benefits remain to be studied.