I think that you're both right, and I think you're both wrong, too. Metabo generally marches to a different beat to Tooltechnic (Festo, Festool, Narex, Kraenzle, Schneider). Some Metabo tools are great. Brilliant, even. Some are crap. Just like Festo/ol.
Principally, Metabo's a category killer in grinders, and also latterly general steelwork tools. Others make good grinders, too. Flex. Robbie Bosch. Eisenblaetter. Maybe even Fein. From a handful to perhaps a dozen or 2 each. Metabo makes over 100 different grinders. It's their particular expertise & specialisation. Just like Festo/ol was principally a sander manufacturer.
Metabo also makes drills. Dozens of 'em. Most very good, and some exceptionally so. A couple are truly outstanding (BE75 x3, GB18) in their respective capabilities. From the sands of the desert to the arctic, from North Sea oil rigs to shipyards, industrial sites all over the world use Metabo drills & grinders in particular in the toughest worksites.
Since making inroads into the construction market, Metabo has increased its range somewhat exponentially, especially in cordless gear. I'll be the first to admit that there's still fairly glaring holes within their cordless range (planers, sanders et. al.) but there's still over 80 different cordless Metabo tools. In fact a breadth of product that frankly makes Tooltechnic's efforts rather paltry in comparison. If one adds in the compatible output from such venerated tool manufacturers as Mafell & Rothenberger, then the "Metabo & Friends" cordless range is in my opinion pretty outstanding.
I have only a few myself (9), but consider them close to if not the best tools available in their particular categories. Aside from everything else, they (Mafell & Rothenberger too) currently sport the world's best, most powerful, versatile and energy dense battery platform available. It's quite a revelation what high current capacity batteries can accomplish these days. The only categories that I can think of that have a palpable need for improvement are in SDS Plus & Max combis & hammers, routers & small, compact impact drivers. Bosch, DeWalt & Makita respectively dominate these segments, and even Festo/ol's handful of equivalents are not exactly exemplars of these particular categories either.
Where Festo/ol tend to dominate is in their sanders, especially those extremely capable aged Holz Her designs they inherited, vacuums (thanks to the Kraenzle purchase; Metabo, in common with the majority of other German firms use Starmix variants) and of course their loose tenoners which rival even the very best alternatives from Lamello & Mafell. Most relevant SMEs would be using Festo or Rupes electric sanders these days.
With their relatively unopposed dominance in metalwork tools & rapid expansion into the cordless and construction tools sectors, both Metabo and its Rothenberger and Mafell "companions" are targeting quite a different market segment to Festo/ol. Festos tend to be more at home in the workshops of small enterprises, sole traders and hobby woodworkers, whereas the aforementioned "gang of 3" are specifically targeting industrial, large commercial & construction clients and specific primary industries such as mining & energy extraction. From a global perspective, if not specifically north american, you would find Metabo especially and I suspect disproportionately well represented in these specific industries.
As for the dearth of north american representation, well in some ways the 3 countries that comprise the continent have only themselves to blame for that situation. It's pretty difficult to design a high quality, robust and sophisticated tool around what amounts to an effectively 3rd world mains reticulation system. Look what's happening to many of the Kapex saws connected to the north america's half-voltage network! They were never the most robust of tools in the first place, and to connect them to such a primitive reticulation network is almost inevitably asking too much of their somewhat delicate nature.
The rest of the world (aside from the odd tiny banana republic) made the change a century or more ago, allowing much more sophisticated, powerful tools & appliances that would quite frankly overwhelm a lower voltage wiring loom. It's great news for your local tool manufacturing industry, who can make more specialised lower voltage tooling with extra heavy duty field wiring to cope with those inevitable powerful eddy currents & excess heat generation. But it's a different story for the major (& a disaster for the small ones, like Festo, Metabo & the like) global tool manufacturers, who must make extensive, expensive, and occasionally (as with Festo's Kapex) ultimately unsuccessful specific modifications for what is with all due respect a fairly marginal proportion of their total marketplace.
