Actually, no. I don't like the modern business strategies but they are what they are.
The only reason many consumer televisions are as cheap as they are is because they're being subsidized with advertisements.
It's the same thing with the razor and blades model, where the razor is sold at a loss and the profit comes from the replacement blades. Or the game console model, where the console is much cheaper than an equivalently powered PC because the profit is made on the games.
Low upfront purchase prices are subsidized by future income streams which can be enforced with technological locking. If you don't have that, the upfront purchase price generally has to be much higher.
Huh. You're definitely authoritative on your intention. Thanks for setting the record straight and pointing out my error.
I'm confused about how you can look at all the less (or anti) functional, more expensive, disposable/fragile crap companies are producing and defend it. I've seen so much waste and stupidity in companies, so much unnecessary and artificial complexity, and so much generated information asymmetry. It doesn't add up even if the loss leader and other stories told to excuse and distract from it are powerful.