I came up with it from insider information that I know and you don't know.
I used to live in Shanghai 2013-2019 and am personally acquainted with the Factory Five owners. They had a shopfront and I used to go on group rides organized by them. I also bought a body measured custom steel frame from their factory (as in the factory they purchase from, not as in they own the factory).
I have some Chinese manufacturing experience too. I leased space in a Chinese auto parts factory and paid them to build a production line for custom seats. Not my main profession, we did it because my company needed 30,000 seats and it was cheaper to build our own factory production line than to buy them from someone else.
No I'm not giving too much power to the Chinese factories. They literally do everything. The Chinese factories are the professionals - more professional than any factory in the west. We simply cannot compete. You should visit China - it's not the 1990s anymore and your mindset needs a major update. Have a look at the Chinese bicycle trade show videos on Youtube and see all the products they have access to that we don't. They're about to take over bikes the same way they took over cars. More technologically advanced than any automobile made over here. China spends major money on research and development - more money than the US spends. Chinese factories can design a product and have the prototype in your hand in less time than an American factory takes to answer your email.
Cool, that is neat. That had to have been fun getting to visit their shop I heard it was quite nice.
Curious why you are so confident that other companies are doing it? Factory Five was in China so we can take them out of this equation.
My mindset needs an upgrade? For what? You are acting as if all these companies are simply just middlemen and that is not the case. China is very capable but to say that companies are just middlemen and don't do their own design work is just crazy. Just because China can do something doesn't mean that is always the case. I can get quite quick emails from some American companies and slow emails from other countries as well. I can get fast or slow anything anywhere if I want. Being quick at email or not quick doesn't really have much of a thing. Everyone expects everything to be ridiculously fast and you have to be constantly connected. I get call sometimes "did you get that text I just sent you" "I sent it a minute ago how could you not have responded?"...
China spends more on R+D than why so many stolen products? Why so much need for outright theft? If they are so great why all of that, why so many poor labor practices? I know there are legit companies doing legit things but if the industry over there is all so good and so much better why the need to be terrible as well? If I could design my own products so well and make it of quality and all of that stuff you want to be the case, why isn't that the case.