The reason LED lights cost more, again IMHO is because light manufacters will "lose" money over time because of the longevity of the LED "bulb". So they up the cost to recoup losses.
Possibly. But then again tiny LED lights may be repurchased because the person wants one in every possibly useful location, I include one in each first-aid kit and the pocket of every jacket I regularly use, and because they are small they will tend to get lost.
I compare this later point to the very useful and compact Trim brand nail clipper. I have never had one break even though I have I have one that had been used regularly for twenty years. Yet every year or two I end up buying more simply because I like to keep one in each first-aid and tool kit and and they are always getting lost. Being relatively inexpensive I don't mind buying a few extra.
The good news is that as everyone buys a half-dozen or more to fill all the nooks and crannies and starts to replace those temporarily lost the numbers being produced go up and the price goes down. Also, the general trend, is that better units will begin to crowd out less effective units.