Back in the 1980’s, a standard mechanical watthour meter costed the utility about $31. They were made to last decades, and indeed, we were changing out meters installed in the 1930’s that still worked (usually). These things are/were nearly maintenance-free. Unfortunately, they probably didn’t make much money for GE any more. So, in order to gain a new cash cow, the new “smart meter” is developed and marketed.
It helps, of course, to have a government mandate to aid in your marketing effort.
GE is out of the single-phase business. My company, Elster [was Westinghouse/ABB], was one of their competitors.