USB-C connectors from well-known brands start at less than $0.20, USB-B ones are $0.30. Same story for the low-end: C can be found for as little as $0.011, B starts at $0.05. Resistors are basically free - about a cent a piece if you splurge, more like $0.0007 if you really push it.
With the EU practically mandating USB-C on all portable electronics, the market is rapidly shifting towards it being the default for all 5V-powered gear: either you ship a cable/brick with it, or you give it USB-C. Even with a premium connector it is quite obvious which option is cheaper, so even bargain-bin gear is incentivized to adopt USB-C, which in turn pushes the connector manufacturers to develop dirt-cheap USB-C options.
USB 2.0 is a superset of 1.1 spec and considered inclusive of 1.1 speeds. I said 2.0 speeds specifically because Type C does not even recognize “USB 1.1” as a speed, and when you go to 3.0+ you start to put other constraints on routing and most importantly requirements on the cable (it needs to be emarked if it supports super speed).
The rest of your comment, totally agree. Especially with EU mandating power be USB-C if possible, which this easily could be.
But for providing power over USB-C, you generally need a dedicated IC to handle VBUS switching. It wasn't worth it.
Also, once you ship a consumer product with a USB port on it, you'll realize a lot of people really don't understand how USB works, and USB-C doubly so. Square holes for square pegs goes a long way.
I personally really don't like it in a world where everyone has USB-C power bricks readily available and USB-B cables are dying out, but considering the user base it is not an entirely unreasonable design decision - for now.