How your knife cuts and sharpens is due to the steel recipe, and the heat treatment of the steel. Different steel recipes result in different properties to accomplish different tasks. Unfortunately, until recently knife steel was not specifically formulated for knives. So knife makers and factories had to choose what would work best from an array of steels made to do other jobs.
Then, and maybe more important, comes how the selected steel is heat treated, a process that can be used to adjust the particular steel recipes inherent properties to further refine it for the intended task. Heat treatment is some times difficult and considered an art. Proper heat treatment can be very time consuming, yet greatly enhance the steel.
So, you can have 2 knives made from identical steel but with different heat treatment
and the result can be that one has good edge holding while the other does not.
The same goes for high carbon stainless.
Next, one must consider that knives and swords were, in fact, the primary military
weapon for thousands of years. The formulation of steel and before that iron or what ever, were TOP Secret. It was not like nukes or any other current military weapon.
These times are long gone for the blade in the military arena, but, the shroud of secrecy held on for quite some time and remnants can still be seen today. Many a knife company does not tell you what type of steel the blade is made from or how it is prepared.
Or they name a certain type of steel with their own trade name or (remember surgical stainless steel)
Spyderco knife company did a lot to change that, as they have extensively published the specs of the materials they use etc.
You can't blame the companies that don't do as Spyderco, they are in a business with high competition and strive for prominence.
Beyond that, knife factories have always had a problem because knives are used for so many different tasks, and consumers often are bored with the technical aspects.
Lots of people just want to know that the knife cuts good and is easy to sharpen.
I'm always amazed that knife sharpening is a mystery to anyone, as knives are really a necessity of life on earth. Your teeth will only get you so far. That is probably about to change with advanced lasers etc , but still knives need no batteries etc and sharpening is not really as difficult as many think.
Economy is the next consideration for knife factories and consumers. High performance steel is more expensive than the lesser qualities. Just how much performance does the average customer demand?
If you have 10 knives and rotate their use, you will almost never have to sharpen any of them....they will last for a long time. You will be pleased, and never know the difference between excellent and mediocre steel. All of it looks the same. The patina on Carbon steel is actually stain, which will eventually turn to rust but ironically that coating of stain slightly protects the underlying steel like gun bluing.
But if you have only 1 knife and use it extensively....you will soon realize the difference. High performance steel will hold an edge far longer, meaning less down time. Your knife will also last longer, because every time you sharpen your knife you are removing metal. Over time you'll notice you have less and less knife blade.
Finally the basic difference between stainless and non stainless steel, is a bit of chromium, which softens the mixture a bit but protects against rust and stain. Previously there was a trade off in performance. Rust resistance meant less edge holding ability. 440c was a break through allowing good edge holding and rust resistance but lacking resilience. (resistance to breakage)
Stainless steels of lesser quality used in knife blades often have problems with edge holding and sharpening, due to
less carbon mixed with chromium which simply makes the mixture too soft no matter what the heat treatment. No breakage problem, but not much cutting from each sharpening
Then came CPMs30V and now it's clones and improvements. A High Performance stainless steel formulated specifically for knives.
Properly prepared, it answers all of the above.....you might read other wise in some places because the raw material is expensive, a bit difficult to work, and the supplies to work it are more costly. Hence you pay more for the knife, but in the long run if your using the knife extensively it's a bargain.