That sounds weird... they are priced about similarly here than comparable Scubapro and Mares and Aqualung regs.Apeks would own the market in the US if they sold for the same price here as in Europe. But they charge about double here than what they go for in Europe.
Apeks regs are pretty popular here, maybe partially because they work pretty well in cold water out of the box and are easy to service and as said the price is pretty much the same than the alternatives so why would I purchase a holiday reg set which is more difficult to get serviced and is not cold water compatible if the Apeks one fits better my needs and pretty much all the dive stores can service them even if they only sell for example Scubapro regs