We have been seeing more Chinese companies using D2 at better prices. My only concern about making it the standard is that it isn't stainless. Frankie on BirdshotIV is famous for saying D2 will rust if you look at it wrong. I don't know if it's quite that bad but at least on paper, it's no improvement over 8Cr13Mov. The real benefit with D2 should be superior edge retention but the increased sharpening difficulty may turn people off as well.
I'd be happier with properly treated 9Cr18Mov or 14C28N. With all three of these steels gaining popularity in the under-$50 range, great things are happening in the budget knife market online. We'll just have to see if Kerhsaw, CRKT, Gerber, etc. are willing to bring it to the big box stores.