I fully believe planned obsolescence is in play! Nowadays, products are not made with the same quality and don't have near the shelf life as their older counterparts. This is obviously more visible in the tech space, but really is everywhere!
We have been having problems with one of our AC units that was installed in the late 80's. A few parts have been replaced over the years, but the unit has been functioning decently well. This was until a few months ago. Two days ago a guy came out to service the unit and he said that we were better off getting a new unit. He was amazed at the longevity the unit has had. He said that the new units only last for about 10 years on average before requiring major maintenance or a new unit.
So we got 25-30 years out of our current air conditioning unit whereas the new units only get 10 years. So as the technology gets "better", the price gets cheaper, but the quality gets degraded.. Ugh..
You make a very good observation!