[Mirioron]

The cheap machines before might've been less efficient, but they generally at least did the job adequately. That's not always the case when the power rating is limited.

Consider that these rules apply to countries with very different economies. People in Bulgaria have an average income of $9,000 a year compared to $54,000 in Germany. They have access to the same vacuum cleaners and washing machines, but they can't afford the same ones.

[rasz]

The problem is artificial market segmentation, not actual goods build cost.

Difference between primitive universal motor + Triac speed controller versus BLDC + controller one is max around $20 BOM. In return you get vastly better efficiency and quieter operation, but we cant have that in a low end product oh no, how would we upmarket the expensive ones?

Example modern product sold with realistic markup, $30 impact driver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AERn5japFs8

[rsynnott]

> but they generally at least did the job adequately

Did they, tho? That's not my memory of cheap 90s/noughties era washing machines, at all. If you go back much further than that, cheap machines didn't exist; adjust the price of a basic 80s washing machine for inflation and you're looking at something that's more than most people would pay for a washing machine today.

EDIT: One thing that the 90s cheap machines were better on was noise, though. It's not that the modern ones are _louder_; I think they're actually lower decibels. But the motors, especially the pump motors, in the newer ones make a much more _annoying_ noise.