"Imperfect pleat geometry,"
Many filters have impefect pleat geometry. Most important thing is the media is strong and doesn't tear or blow-out.
"Lack of filter media,"
Can't really say much about that without actually measuring the media's total area. Even though some filters might not have as many pleats as another, their pleats are deeper which helps bump up the total area.
"Thin metal housing,"
If you measured the can thickness of many filters, you'll find they are all within a thousandth of an inch of each other. Never seen one filter yet regardless of brand have a can failure reported here.
"Primitive bypass valve dropped in the bottom of the canister, not integrated with the filter."
It's configured just like 95%+ of the oil filters on the market. I think Fram's bypass valve is one of the better designs out there. People always think it's "plastic", but it's actually high temperature nylon. And it uses a coil spring with gives good control of the opening pressure.