[fatbird]

I've run into a few contractors who have Ryobi as well, and are fine with them. They're sufficient for a lot of tasks, and most contractors end up with multiples of any tool anyway. One actually said "I may go through two Ryobi tools while you go through one, but it's still cheaper, and I worry less about losing or wrecking it."

I've yet to meet a contractor who's brand loyal to the point of only using that brand. Most have two or three brands they tend to go to.

[pandaman]

There is the market segmentation to be considered: Ryobi is owned by the same holding that owns Milwaukee so they make sure a Ryobi tool does not perform on par with a more expensive Milwaukee equivalent. So if you do, say, electrical work, you can use a Ryobi impact because you don't really care how fast you screw a dozen fasteners you'll need in a whole day. But if you install cabinets/decks and need to put in thousands fasteners a day then you will want the fastest impact, which won't be a Ryobi by far.

As for brand loyalty - it comes from the fact that batteries are more expensive than the tools. A handyman or a two people crew on a small job can have five different batteries with five different charges for ten different tools in the truck without much problem. A crew of ten people working on the same site for days will need multiple batteries per tool and if they try to use different systems they will end up with people waiting for a free outlet so they can charge and work for a couple more hours before they will need to wait again. It's much easier to set up one charging point and pool charged batteries for everyone to use.

[bombcar]

I know some contractors with Harbor Freight tools that they're moderately annoyed haven't died yet. Buy it once to throw away and it just keeps working.

Lots of the super price brands like Festool are more ... showoff I almost feel.