Built many a 555 timer circuit back in the day! But in modern times, I can get an ATMega328p already attached to a PC board for $2.50 and load code on it to do whatever I want, including blink a red LED.
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Microcontrollers obviously have more than 1 bit of memory + 2x analog comparators + one 33% / 66% voltage divider (which is all a 555 timer truly is).
What is surprising however is how flexible 1 bit of memory + 2x analog comparators + one 33% / 66% voltage divider
What matters in production is that a 555-based circuit will use more power, that it's four components to source and install instead of one, and so on. Don't get me wrong, I like the 555, just like I like vacuum tubes, but it's nearly as dead.