Do you the source code for the microcode running on your CPU or are you just going by the corporate advertising? :)
Obviously we have to put some trust in corporations if we're not to live a purely analog existence, and so it stands to reason that we can put a little more trust in a company whose business model is selling premium hardware (and which increasingly sees privacy as a competitive advantage) than a company whose business model is selling your personal data to advertisers.
I agree with your sentiment that there is no absolute here; however there is a difference if the whole machine is a blackbox or just the CPU and is sold by a listed corporation that is only accountable to their shareholders.
They see privacy as a marketing advantage, however they collect data as they see fit. It is also important to note, that they are indeed in the ad business and even if it is no match to their hardware business they are profit maximizing. So even if they don't sell your data now this can change and your record on that big corp will become known to whoever pays enough.
Side question: Does Google directly sell personal data to advertisers? (For Google applies what I said above anyway)
Obviously we have to put some trust in corporations if we're not to live a purely analog existence, and so it stands to reason that we can put a little more trust in a company whose business model is selling premium hardware (and which increasingly sees privacy as a competitive advantage) than a company whose business model is selling your personal data to advertisers.