It seems to me the CEO's/management of Harmon et al don't want to take a lesser salary. In order to keep profits high, either make very good, higher-end products that are going to be stratospherically priced out of the reach of many, (look at the prices of the Project Array and Synthesis lines...ridiculous) or make a wide assortment of cheap junk with lower margins and sell trainloads of it.
There's not that much in the mid-priced range that's worth having anymore. Either you buy the crap stuff or be willing to take out a second mortgage, or be very well-off financially. Kind of reflects the way society in general has become: the rich are getting exponentially richer, while the 'middle class' is barely holding on. But there's plenty of room at the bottom.
With the throw away and "surround-sound-in-a-box" mentality of the average consumer today, the "wide assortment of cheap junk" option is going to work better. Very few are able to or want to take the effort, space requirements, and money it takes to achieve great sound.