Excellent point PEI,
could well be that the fact alone that the basics of inflight weather radar have not changed and will not change in the foreseeable future, simply because there's not much more to invent here, that all this sales marketing stuff, maybe the add some more colors with the next generation, and some more REACT and other features, obscures, for some, I may add, that nothing much has changed, except that I also find some new generation "low power" models pretty useless..
and the real reason for those radars may have been that some think that the solid state stuff is cheaper to operate and maintain compared to magnetron exchanges..
magnetrons on the other hand having some finite life and having to be replaced after a certain operating time..
and that naturally is not true either, as the low power stuff also breaks frequently, and it really does not make a diff whether you pay 10 grand for a new magnetron or the same 10 grand for some ICs..