My "idea" was, them entering the Market under their own brand & name and then actively competing against the established brands (like the manufacturer behind my laser level does) - not them just making tools for well-known and established brands as it is currently. And also not the very cheap (junk) products you can get at various places, but really an all in all competitive product that is cheaper because the "brand margin" is entirely out of the equation.

Kind regards,
Oliver

Regarding your last point.  "but really an all in all competitive product that is cheaper because the "brand margin" is entirely out of the equation."

Profit margin I suspect.  China understands capitalism very well.  There are probably not as many competitive products from China because that would eat into the profit margin.  It takes more money for the administrative side to advertise and promote a new name brand.  A name brand you are selling on quality and trying to capture market share.  The manufacturing cost is part of the equation.  But then add on all of the marketing costs.  Less profit margin in the end.  Whereas if you are making products for a USA brand company, you are only paying for the manufacturing costs.  You can negotiate with the USA brand to get a good profit margin that is guaranteed and eliminate any of the risk part of selling and convincing the public to buy your product.

100% chance to make $10 if you contract with a USA established brand to make a product.  Or...  10% chance to make $20 if you do all the marketing costs and everything works great.  But 30% chance to make $10 if you do all the marketing costs and things are just mediocre.  And 60% chance to make $5 if you do all the marketing costs and are not too successful.  Which is the best choice for the Chinese companies to make?

In my mind mind it always comes down to what you want to influence with your decisions. Do you want to reward someone with your purchase for building a product, best price being the deciding factor? Or do you want to support a company that has a proven track record of inventing, bringing new ideas and pushing the industry forward.

I’m not saying the latter is not able to be found in the PRC, but I think especially with the current global climate it is time to think about, if we really want to drive all the knowledge out of our own neighborhoods.
I think it’s a pity if we „forget“ how to make things in our own countries. And surely, if you need to pay years of development and want fair wages and a healthy company that will still be there in some decades, it all costs money…

The modern world makes us feel like our decisions are not overly important in the grand scheme of things. I believe the opposite. With every single decision/purchase we all shape the world we will live in tomorrow.

So. Enough semi-philosophical waxing. just my 2 cents…

Some tools are so well copied that one has to believe they are made in the same factory after hours.

No need for special after hours work, as in the case of Cisco networking equipment, just other assembly lines in parallel with the main.