That's really fascinating. I had a relevant conversation with an employee at the LBS recently. He was saying that there are pretty much 3 or 4 companies that makes frames for almost all brands. He said that one of the big ones was owned by Yamaha- I can't remember who they made frames for(maybe Giant, KHS, etc.- don't quote me on that though).

I'm not really sure why this turned into a flame-fest, but I find discussions on topics like these very interesting.