What you are saying doesn't make any sense. Failure_rate= number_of_failures_in_sample/sample_size. Since failure rate is the percentage of a product that fails it doesn't matter how many you sold provided that number is large enough for a reasonable sample, and it is for any relevant SSD vendor.
I'm not surprised you think it's unfair to compare SSDs to mechanical drives since it makes OCZ look bad, on the other hand Intel, Samsung and Crucial all have failure rates that are a tiny fraction of any HDD manufacturer. Clearly the problem isn't with SSD technology in general, it's with OCZ.
I don't have a problem with anyone preferring to use OCZ drives in their system but I do have a problem with people ignoring facts when they recommend products to others simply because those facts make their favorite brand look bad. There is no place for fanboyism in product recommendations.
Except, you are still missing both points to try and prove your point. First and foremost, you have to have a higher sale rate to have a higher failure rate. The less product being pushed means less product to fail and vice verse. Period. Product can't fail if it isn't being used by the public. OCZ sells more units than any other SSD manufacturer meaning they will have more units to fail. It's quite simple the concept really.
So yes, the amount of product being sold DOES have an absolute effect on the amount that CAN fail, hence leaving you with your failure rate.
I don't care if OCZ looks bad. Their sales alone make them look good no matter what you want to say. That is also fact. Another fact, is you can't directly compare mechanical drives to SSDs because they are two completely different technologies. Period. It simply isn't something you can argue over. One uses the age old platter technology and another uses relatively new flash technology. It is very typical for a technology as a whole to fail more when it is in its infancy state than something that is tried and true.
We recommend OCZ because they are fast, cheap, and simply work. They are also a well known brand because of all them units being sold previously mentioned. If OCZ was really that bad, then you wouldn't see so many OCZ SSDs sitting in a ton of enthusiast machines. I'm not ignoring facts here, you are.
If I was being a fanboy I would tell every person here to grab an Intel/Nvidia rig simply because they are best. I don't do that. I recommend product based on needs, budget, and personal experience. From what you are saying, every single rig ever being built here I would replace their SSD with an OCZ Vertex or Agility drive. I don't.