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Hmm, unsure. I think it's a cop out to fall back on corporate cynicism — the market might only produce small margins for them thanks to far east running down prices, but it's still valuable for them to cater to the market in terms of both business and brand. Industry interests aside, far east factories aren't a new market force, and consumers buying direct from the East are understandably quite niche.
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it's still valuable for them to cater to the market in terms of both business and brand
It really isn't. Hand builds are a small niche, OEM rims for factory assembled wheels with 3rd party hubs and spokes is a ruthlessly competitive business, and the only way your brand gets mentioned either way is when something breaks in a system over which you have no control and people blame the rims. I would not be surprised to see Mavic leave the loose rim business completely within a decade, because the OEM end has no margin and boutique end has no volume.
gbj_tester
And they won't care. There's much more money to be made from selling either aftermarket or OEM wheels than there is from trying to compete with Chinese extrusion benders.