Brewski- you're dead on! The forklift market is driven by large customers who buy fleets of forklifts at a time. Total cost of ownership is what these types of consumers look at, along with the servicing dealer in their area.

It comes down to which type of Forklift is cheaper during the intended life of the primary purchaser. In another thread on this site it's been shown that American companies keep their lifts much longer than companies across the pond. This could answer the question as to why the techy lifts don't do as well in the USA as the electronics are expensive to repair & don't hold up as well.