For any offended by the diatribe below oh well! I've been in the construction trade for 33 yrs and been privy to the evolution of many of the power tools used in the trade, all have been affected.
Many brands that, (years ago) had the mark of quality about them, Delta, Porter Cable, Rockwell, Milwaukee, Paslode, Hitachi, Makita, Emglo even Sears have suffered. Products that had "made in USA" stamped on them and all were (HEAVY DUTY) back then, albeit without the (sic) designator, compared to today's "classed" products. Pretty much all of these companies were bought out by competitors, how and why I don't know. Said companies either eliminated altered or combined the qualities of the 2 products to create a new better one. In the case of Bosch and Skill saws.
I suspect some time back in the 70s the same type of "Synergy" people that get paid unworthy amounts of money to come up with names like Verison, Keyspan and Cingular decided that "NORMAL" quality tools needed to be reclassified into home owner, construction and industrial. Homeowner equating with throwaway. Industrial always seemed obvious to me, the parameters of such required a separate class.
To improve the product, i,e, (to get it in as many hands as possible, in general those not qualified to use them) they had to lower the price, requiring lower quality parts and cheaper labor, ergo overseas. Then marketing needed to confront the "wavering male ego" to spur his need to be manly, (women as equals filling the labor ranks were chipping away at the male persona of bread winner and sole knower of things.
I have a 3X21" SEARS belt Sander that I know for sure is 32yrs old that's how long ago it was given to me, and it was already old. I still use it when I want to punish wood, or do delicate sanding, (upside down and clamped to the table) I have a 6" SEARS circ from the same period from my father, still use it.
In 85 I bought a Makita 10" miter box, in 97 a Bosch 10" compound slide and when I bought the Makita 12" duel compound slide in 04 I gave the miter box to my father who still uses it to cut steel tubing to make boat trailers.
Like many in my trade I worked for a few companies before going out on my own, probably more so than others, in the quest to learn more or different methods at solving problems. Even the worst of them had something the others didn't do that saved time without risking quality. All were brand fan boys, so I had the privilege of trying them all.
I used to go to Tool shows in the state and asked questions about the tools as they were evolving. Just in case, know this they are mouthpieces speaking company dogma and many never spent time on a roof or walked a 20' high 2X6 wall with studs over his shoulder or spent time on the job using the tools on a daily basis.
I never heard one man whine about a circ being too heavy, yet that was a main reason for going with composite/fiberglass shells on circs from the older cast metal method, instead of well you know what happens when a saw drops a floor or 2 onto the ground or concrete, (which occurs far more in the field than a factory floor)well these new cases are cheaper to replace if the rest of the saw survives the impact. Would have been a bit more believable than too heavy.
The rational to use lighter metals and reduced sizing because the smelting processes have improved hasn't panned out either. I bought a Rockwell recip saw back in 85 when my sears recip melted on a house razing. It finally died in 07, I've gone through 4 Porter Cable recips since 98, 3 of them since 03 all due to mechanical breakdown.
I know PC bought Rockwell, the recips were identical, I heard Dewalt bought Emglo, Delta, PC and I don't know how many other companies. Look at an old emglo and then look at Dewalts compressors. Since Dewalt bought Delta and PC there have been more complaints about product quality.
Jet products used to be the Volkswagen of the 80s and 90s, it has improved itself to the point where the dealers are lauding Jet quality over Delta in particular TS table surfacing. Manufacturers are creeping up like Woodstock International that I hear make Grizzly and Shop Fox products.
I know from experience that there is always the possibility that you'll get a lemon from a presumed quality product, but the number of complaints on quality has climbed since the notable companies have been bought out and or moved over seas. Product cost hasn't gone down with the improvements in manufacture processes