I also think it would be nice to keep offering the 990 as long as possible - it's a nice piece of gear. My suspicion is that they've got an existing inventory of Model 990's and Model 970's that they'll keep selling until they run out. Unless they were really low and elected to order a "stop gap" batch it's very possible that the last 990 has already left the assembly line and taken up residence in a warehouse on the east coast.