Nothing is that polarized in reality.
Obviously a company needs to make a profit, or else there are no products. But there's enormous pressure from the customer to make it better faster cheaper, with opposing pressure from the employees for better pay, more tools, etc. At the same time, margins are getting cut from retailers as the consumer has more ability to compare prices from ANY source world-wide instead of just the authorized dealer in their home town. As such, retailers want steep discounts for large orders, or whatever they can get to set them apart. Of course, consumers are also being trained that they can and should return the product for any reason whatsoever -- including insufficient pre-sales research, or whim, or buyer's remorse, or finding a cheaper price elsewhere.
So, yeah there's good old fashioned greed involved, sure. But there's also the monster of our own making: "Why isn't anything built to last anymore? Also, I can get this $15 cheaper from Amazon, and $30 cheaper from a no-name source on eBay."
OTOH, we're willing to pay ridiculous prices to see a movie or watch a basketball game...