Is this lack of quality a US thing?

Where we live (Kazakhstan), we had a Samsung fridge, AC and TV for about 7 years without any issues whatsoever. After moving to a new apartment, we bought another Samsung fridge and it has been quietly humming along for over 2 years now.

I never heard anybody complaining about Samsung.

Could be more features lead to more problems. Ice makers are highly desirable and often problematic.

Could be that US runs on 120vac and that means a lot of different parts.

Could be the US market gets more advanced compressors and what not to meet energy efficiency requirements (and maybe reduced noise) and Kazakhstan gets a simpler refrigerator that just keeps working.