Horizontal wood blinds are definitely preferred in American households. This design is extremely well entrenched and most people when thinking of blinds actually think of wood horizontal blinds.
The market for horizontal wood blinds is anything but bland though. The competition is extremely fierce and there are no clear winners. Several brands fight for the top position, but there aren't any accurate statistics in this field. Brands like Levelor or Hunter Douglas are typically recognized as being the most important, but they only cover a small percentage of the market as they typically do not get involved in custom horizontal blinds. Nanik or the Nanik/Timberline brand might be considered at the other extremity. timberline horizontal wood blinds by Nanik for example can't be found with large retailers such as Sears, but they focus on custom wood horizontal blinds.
As for the prices of horizontal wood blinds, these come in leaps and bounds. The most visible gap comes between horizontal wood blinds and faux wood horizontal blinds. The difference does not necessarily reflect the cost of the materials used, but rather the cost of fabrication. Wood is a material very hard to work with especially on an assembly line. Also given the fact that the wood must receive treatment for fire protection purposes and antistatic further increases the bill. The production cost of plastics may be at times higher than that of raw timber, but they can be easily used on the assembly line.
Another factor in the price of horizontal wood blinds is the country of provenience. The fact is that China is the biggest producer in the world. This doesn't come as a threat though for US based producers, as there are severe penalties for practicing dumping (very low) prices. There is also an environmental aspect to the story of horizontal wood blinds, especially in countries with an ill defined environmental policy. The most concerns are again directed towards China . There are no clear statistics on this subject as the Chinese government is not particularly known for its transparency. Organizations like Green Peace though have painted a not so pretty picture based on satellite pictures. Of course horizontal wood blinds do not use a very high amount of wood to begin with, but the issue remains opened to this day.
You might think that in terms of environmental care wood faux horizontal blinds would be more appealing. This is not the case. If you start counting the harmful substances released in the process of manufacturing you will get a very ugly headache. This sort of blind does rely though on heavy recycling. As for the slats made from aluminum, there are many experts who think that this use should be restricted as this is a rather scarce and precious mineral resource.
Altogether the market of horizontal wood blinds is seeing a boom these days, no matter of the material used. You should ask yourself though when buying about the effects of your purchase on the environment.
The most visible gap in price comes between horizontal wood blinds and faux wood horizontal blinds