Not that the controller board on a washing machine is particularly exotic; it's made from standard components. But each model of washing machine has it's own controller board, so the boards are low-volume, and ridiculously expensive. And the boards themselves are about as easy to repair as any modern PCB covered in SMDs.
I suspect the reason that white goods nowadays all have digital displays and digital control panels is that those "features" necessitate a proprietary controller board, which turns out (surprisingly! /s) to be the component most likely to fail.
Not to mention that washing machine PCBs have to function in an environment which is notoriously hazardous for electronics: very high humidity/moisture, and very high vibration. The last time I took a look at my washing machine's PCB while I was replacing the door seal, I noticed that it was potted in epoxy, which neatly resolves the durability issue which simultaneously making it impossible to repair. I don't blame them, diagnosing which component has failed on a circuit board which is constantly failing due to abuse and replacing it requires a much higher level of skill (and thus more expensive repairs) than just replacing the board wholesale.
Not that the controller board on a washing machine is particularly exotic; it's made from standard components. But each model of washing machine has it's own controller board, so the boards are low-volume, and ridiculously expensive. And the boards themselves are about as easy to repair as any modern PCB covered in SMDs.
I suspect the reason that white goods nowadays all have digital displays and digital control panels is that those "features" necessitate a proprietary controller board, which turns out (surprisingly! /s) to be the component most likely to fail.