My guess, this is only temporary. Look at their cars!
I clearly remember my first negotiations about Settop Boxes with the Chinese. Heavy smokers (like the Koreans), so we needed to schedule many breaks. They had a Yakuza feeling about them (I know, Yakuza are not Chinese and Jacuzzi is a hot tub) - which I liked a lot.
Very cinematic! Negotiations were always like the Russian Roulette scene in “The Deer Hunter”…
In every negotiation they said “yes! yes! yes!” repeatedly to all my requirements (or was it “Mau! Mau! Mau!”?).
I was pretty astouned to read the contract later, which contained none of the agreed requirements.
They were clearly not happy about me sticking to the negotiated requirements, and I was prepared for a sword fight, but they agreed to everything again, while I insisted to change the contract at the table and sign it immediately.
No price change, of course.
So, the first three batches of samples were completely different from our agreement. They not only s#cked, but were different products altogether.
Again, escalation, smoking Chinese, prepared for a sword fight.
In the end they delivered just in time with expected quality. This was the period where my hair became grey first and then seized to grow…
Nowadays, the Chinese offer great standard products, understand negotiation the “European” way … and deliver custom stuff to spec at a very good price and ALWAYS in time.
I understand from Thomann that they shared a similar experience for their Harley Benton Equipment…
PS by the way: negotiation with Americans (Motorola, Scientific Atanta/Cisco) was also terrible. No smoking though, but they were marketing driven, not driven by engineers.
Sleek talking, wonderful Powerpoints, greet diners! But basically empty and not very much to the point in terms of details. They had very much a “we bring American goodness to the world” mentality, without understanding the European “spirit” (and market).
Ah, those were the good old days 
