Actually, radios from the Asian companies are manufactured in several locations: Japan, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, to name a few.
So, I did a quick survey around my house:
- 5 Kenwood amateur band radios, 3 mobiles and 2 handhelds, all made in Singapore
- 2 Yaesu amateur band handhelds both made in Japan
- 2 Icom amateur band HF base radios both made in Japan
- 1 Motorola public safety trunking handheld made in Mexico
Right now, the Chinese are, for the most part, copy cats. They see a feature on a "Japanese" radio and try to figure out how to copy it. They may or may not understand the underlying theory behind that feature, but they can figure out how to duplicate it. Some of this copying is downright intellectual property theft, but the Chinese seem to have a low respect for other people's IP.
As for manufacturing supervision, I have faith in Kenwood's and Yaesu's ability to ensure that their non-Japanese factories are building their products in a quality manner. I don't have the same faith in the Chinese to supervise their manufacturing processes. How many Chinese-made goods have made news recently for containing lead and other toxic chemicals? And, I don't have to worry about non-Japanese manufacturing with Icom because, as far as I know, all of their manufacturing is done in Japan.
I also don't care for the apparent lack of support for these radios in the U.S. When I have a problem with an Icom, Kenwood, or Yaesu radio, I can call their U.S.-based customer support and I can ship my broken radio to their U.S.-based service departments. Do Baofeng, Puxing, TYT, Wouxon, etc., have factory-backed support and service facilities in the U.S.?
Finally, thrifty hams who are buying these cheap, Chinese radios either don't know or don't care about the history of amateur radio companies in the U.S. American hams used to be able to buy American-made radios. Collins, Drake, Hallicrafters, Hammarlund, Heathkit, Johnson, and others were all actively producing amateur radio gear until the Japanese manufacturers showed up with less expensive radios. Where are those U.S. manufacturers now? I want to see Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu continue to compete in the U.S. amateur radio market. That means they need to have innovative features, high performance, and reasonable price. If the amateur radio market continues to flock to these $50 handhelds, why should I/K/Y continue developing new radios?
That said, I've often thought that there was room at the low end of the market. Remember how popular the Radio Shack HTX-202 was? That was a simple, basic handheld with great performance and a reasonable price. Hams loved them. An entry-level ham may not be interested in all the whistles and bells, but they need a reliable radio that's easy to operate. Could I/K/Y compete at that end of the market?
Don't kid yourself.
The FCC does not test radios for certification. The certification testing is done by independent labs. The FCC merely takes the lab's word for it that a radio meets FCC technical standards.
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