The problem is worse than you thought. Each of those brands will go into the coffers of only about 3 or 4 different companies.
At Bunnings you've got AEG, Ryobi, Ozito, DeWalt and now Makita. In that list there are only three separate companies making those tools. The first three are made by the same company with only Ryobi being the international brand there. I think Makita is their own company but DeWalt is Stanley Black and Decker.
So you're right, we don't need all these different brands because in reality there's only 3 or 4. The rest are simply there to create the illusion that there is competition when there isn't really.
I'm not so sure that volume would be diminished if there was only those 3 or 4 brands, but the price would be so dirt cheap if the volume remained the same but reduced to the amount of companies there actually are. That's not good for the bottom dollar of the corporations. It would be good for us as the consumer.
So their workaround was to create separate brands and putting them into DIY, trades, and top of the line ranges at different price points making them slightly different connectors for the batteries so that you can't interchange with each brand so you lock yourself into one brand or "upgrade" your entire toolshed when you've "outgrown" your existing tool range.
Humans really are greedy fuckers.
That's basically what my whole posts says.
Yep. Just breaking it down into how they get away with fulfilling their greed. Don't even get me started on shareholders... says the guy holding shares. 😅
We're all to blame and all guilty for how the world is today.