I call bullshit on that. The technology advancements reduce costs; manufacturing process improvements reduct costs; supply chain efficiencies reduce costs. That 20-year old microwave I own cost me only a few hun back in 1998. Appliances that my parents bought in the 70s wouldn't have cost multiple thousands - probably the same $1500-$2000 for a fridge, or $500-$1000 for a dishwasher. I've gone thru 2 stoves, 3 diswhashers, 3 coffee makers, 2 toaster ovens, and 2 fridges in the last 16 years I've lived in my current house. I can't believe that is anything but planned obsolescence.
We pay about the same for lower quality shit these days.
And ever-increasing raises for workers doing the same job they did in 1974 raise costs. Forced healthcare for ALL employees raises costs. Insurance for lawsuits from morons that burn their taste-buds from hot coffee raises costs. Unilateral and forced compliance with global environmental standards raises costs. If you're going to parse out the "cost of goods sold" you have to go whole hog on that puppy and look at ALL the costs.
I worked for GE for about a decade, and for a time I was part of the group that had Appliances, Lighting and Consumer Electronics (circuit breakers and shit like that, not coffee pots and stereos). Single greatest line item in the manufacturing COGS? HEALTHCARE. Second biggest? LABOR. Wasn't third, but in the top five or so? ENVIRONMENTAL.
Goods are not purposefully built to have a shorter life-span, but whoever said that consumers are not willing to pay what it actually costs for quality was spot on. They're just not. People pay for features, plain and simple. Plus you factor in that people don't maintain like they used to - how many times have you vacuumed the dust out of your microwave? I have a complete DT catalogue that says "NEVER" - and you have a shorter lifespan.
Oh, and "corporate greed"? The margin on appliances is as thin as the gossamer wings on a Victoria Secret model. They would work around 5% to 7% overall (it varied, though, across products; refrigerators weren't the same as, say, air conditioners or stoves). That's about 1/10th the margin of that phone that's in your hand right now showing videos from Pornhub. Microsoft and Apple generally are in the 35% range. Most businesses are in the 20% range. The geniuses on Shark Tank would laugh you out of the studio if you came in and said "My margins are 5%!". Mr. Wonderful: "I'm out!".