You say 'mass produced' and 'plastic' as if these were obviously bad things, but why? Mass production brings down costs and makes it economical for manufacture

You say 'mass produced' and 'plastic' as if these were obviously bad things, but why? Mass production brings down costs and makes it economical for manufacturers to spend more on R&D. If Apple was selling only as many iPhones as Cannon sells cameras, you'd be paying through the roof for all the advanced technology that goes into the iPhone camera system. I'd also point out that all modern lenses and cameras are mass produced. The lenses are not hand-ground! Plastic moulded lenses enable aspheric designs that would be impractical or impossible to make out of glass. Given the size constraints imposed on smartphone camera lenses, the lenses would probably perform worse, not better, if they were made out of glass (which would require totally different optical designs).