Ahhhh yes, I forgot about those cheap 3xAAA lights where the batteries are in a round caddy. And they have the multiple 5mm bluish LEDs too. Yuk.
Exactly! I used to frequent Harbor Freight a few years back, and they were constantly hawking those 3xAAA lights for 99 cents or something... It felt like they had an endless supply to give away, or maybe the cheap flashlights were breeding like rabbits (or Tribbles) in the back room
Perhaps things have changed since then, at least I hope so. But I imagine there are still a lot of those semi-disposable lights being made, used for a matter of months, and then thrown in the trash.
However, now that I think some more about it, there are some Maglites made in that same form factor. I have an XL50 that hasn't been lit up in years. There are several reasons I don't care for it (having nothing to do with the battery configuration), but I have to admit that it's pretty nicely machined if I don't think too much about the retail price tag. For the life of me though, I can't think of any other 'quality' hand held lights using that format.
Nevertheless -- and I think this was your initial point hiuintahs -- there are by comparison *lots* of headlamps using 3xAAA serial power source. I don't mean to dismiss them... Who among us hasn't used a Petzl Tikka at some point?