I sell reconditioned vacs and people tell me all nature of reasons for upright vs. canister. One comment I've heard a number of times against canisters is, "I don't like dragging a vacuum cleaner around behind me." Buyers either love or hate a canister; there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. I've sold canisters to a number of professional house cleaners. They like the easy of access for getting under furniture that a canister offers, and they like the easy portability of one. Although most modern uprights have on-board hoses, the typical canister hose is longer and more useful to pros.
When I was growing up in the 1950's and early '60's, canister machines were commonly seen in the households that I would visit. When manufacturers started putting hoses on uprights, that might have started the downward trend here in the States for canisters. Today, there aren't many uprights made without some kind of on-board hose and not many canisters are on the market. Of those still sold, they tend to be at both extremes of price point. Consequently, I have no problem selling recon. canister rigs.
People don't seem to care that the on-board hose arrangements on uprights are often clumsy and awkward. I opine that most of them use the hose seldom, mostly using the floor nozzle. Quite a few uprights have a brush roll off feature now, to go along with the disappearing carpet in many homes.
