I submit that there is a spectrum of product quality in many product categories. Perhaps your question could be repackaged as: "Why is there generally a standa

I submit that there is a spectrum of product quality in many product categories. Perhaps your question could be repackaged as: "Why is there generally a standard normal distribution of products in a category?". Thinking about a market this way leads one to understand that businesses stake out segements of that market distribution, and compete to target those to the left and right in their relentless quests for global domination. Therefore, the lack of Apple-quality products may be related to the lack of competitors with capability/vision to make a business plan work out there in the right tail of the distribution where Apple hangs out.