Many of these junky mass-market products are currently stuck in a Nash Equilibrium[a]:
Each manufacturer is unable improve the product's quality without increasing its retail price, but increasing the price would make the product more expensive than competing products made by other manufacturers, who are in the same situation. No manufacturer can improve quality without raising prices and losing market share.
Their position is analogous to that of prisoners in the Prisoners' Dilemma[b]: Their best choice is the least-worst option for everyone.
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