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The state of consumer electronics and manufacturing in general has gone down the tubes, basically. The industry has gotten into the mode of companies trying to undercut each other in pricing rather than come out with quality products. The dramatic rise of importers bringing in loads of off-brand Chinese junk (as opposed to name-brand Chinese junk--it's nearly all made in China now) without any concern other than failing out of warranty asn't helped. You can take a look at almost any newer electronic unit and see where corners have been cut.
Consumers seem to be playing along, I regularly hear people talking about how they only need their TV or washing machine to last a couple years as long as it's cheap in the first place. I was actually in Sears a couple years ago and the salesman told me their $40 DVD player would only last a couple months--he was right, by the way.
Along with reductions in cost, the higher tech of today's electronics require the use of lots of integrated circuit packages and robot-assembled parts. These rarely can be repaired at all, and replacement parts are usually sold only as large assemblies. Whether it's intentionally or not they often cost more than the entire device.
Something else you don't hear talked about a lot is the actual manufacturing process. EU laws banned lead, so now most electronics are made with lead-free solder. It doesn't hold up well and can't be easily repaired.
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