As for the quality of the device that I bought a few years ago, I can't say anything bad, because nothing broke and everything works as it should from day one. It is possible that problems in quality and functionality arose as a result of the use of lower quality materials, and possibly a less experienced workforce.
Perhaps, many users of the ledger's products will agree with you and also don't experience any problems with their hardware wallets, but still, breakdowns do occur. I don't think that this is a statistical error, but more like the poor quality of the materials used, as you say. A cracked display or a plastic case, as well as failed buttons, are not the most expensive elements in the design of this devices. It would seem, why not improve their quality. After all, it doesn't require a lot of financial investment for this. But if we take into account the multi-million dollar sales of ledger's devices, then saving even on such trifles will result in a large amount. Really, business in the most ordinary greed? But on the other hand, this company's support service, apparently, works flawlessly and is ready to provide a completely new device during the warranty period -
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5393971.msg59864720#msg59864720. Without having to send a broken device, which deserves special praise.
I also thought that Ledger will lose the user's trust after the data leak scandal, but it's obvious that most people don't value their privacy enough to blacklist such a company. And as you say, a good advertising strategy still keeps them on top and probably targets those completely new investors in the crypto world who are probably not aware of anything that happened in the past.
In a world in which there is a very large information flow, such the data leak news is very quickly forgotten and, of course, remains unknown to new potential buyers of ledger devices. Such problems are discussed only in thematic forums and sections, in which there are not so many views. Most often, users look into these sections only when they have personal troubles with their HW devices, which leaves these the lledger's data leak news out of the information flow of new investors.
Another fact that works in their favor is that, apart from Trezor, they have no real competition that can offer a product for the masses at a more favorable price, and at the same time gain more trust in the short term. I can only say that my next HW will not be from Ledger.
It seems that this is also true. This company has already occupied a very large market share and new companies (which appear from time to time and offer their own unique solutions) are not able to compete with them on a serious level and on such a scale. Which, in my opinion, is not good, because it reduces the variability of devices, allowing the emergence of new hardware wallets with completely unique solutions and operating principles.
I also have a small theory that potential customers prefer the Ledger design in the form of a classic USB stick, rather than the design developed by Trezor - which attracted me to buy Ledger at the beginning.
In modern society, it has become important not only to provide a "
cool product", but to be able to make it stand out from the competition and attract buyers. Even if there are questions about the quality of devices, as is the case with the ledger company. Still, buyers pay a lot of attention to the "cover" and appearance.
It is also the merit of this manufacturer that they better studied the needs of their customers and offered exactly the design that began to be in great demand. It seems to me that the company understood better than its competitors how to "
serve a dish" and in "
what form", which, accordingly, allowed it to dominate sales of HW devices.
