As promised, pictures from the teardown...
Our lecturer knew a lot about these (8th year running) and was quick to point out the majority of decisions were based on cost saving.
It was a Bush player, but I am not sure who the actual OEM is for it. We also took apart the remote to understand its functionality and noticed a bodge: the resonator had been soldered on the bottom, instead of the top where all the other through hole components were. The reason was quite simple, if it had been on the top it would have stopped you putting the batteries in.
Crappy electrolytics, I wonder how long they will last... these have never been used, purchased exclusively for the teardowns. Power cord cut to stop curious students electrocuting themselves, I guess.