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Message: <blockquote data-quote="brocknroller" data-source="post: 1848934" data-attributes="member: 665">Ain't going to happen, unfortunately, and I can tell you why, though I can't reveal my inside source who goes by the name of "Deep Wiener Schnitzel." Austria has the second highest wages and the second highest standard of living in Europe, and those costs are reflected in Swaro's pricing (Germany's #1, so ditto for Leica and Zeiss). To lower their prices, Swaro would have to make fairly slim profits, because their overhead is not going to go down since they refuse to outsource the manufacture of their optics. They adhere to ISO standards. Eastern Europe and China do not. At least that's the story. I can't see why they can't build their own factories in Eastern Europe and keep the ISO standards. Is there a law against using ISO standards in Eastern Europe? Was passiert hier?All they need are some Austrian engineers to design the manufacturing process and inspectors on the premises to make sure the manufacturing is kept up to spec. Labor costs will still be cheaper, so the cost of the bins will be lowered. I suspect the actual reason that Swaro won't move their manufacturing out of Austria is that the company will have to lay off Austrian workers. This may present legal difficulties (union contracts?) and bad PR. Plus, unlike many US companies, which replace workers like light bulbs, Swaro's management might actually care about the welfare of their workers. But don't blame Adam Smith for this:<a href="http://counterecon.com/2009/12/12/adam-smith-favored-labor-unions/" target="_blank">http://counterecon.com/2009/12/12/adam-smith-favored-labor-unions/</a>Despite the inroads in optics, "Made in China" still carries the taint of cheapness that "Made in Japan" did when I was a kid (yes, I'm a goat). A lot of Chinese electronics are junk. I keep on having to replace transformers, phones, answering machines, etc. that are poorly made and come with the warning (Wash Your Hands After Handling: MAY CONTAIN LEAD AND/OR CADMIUM OR SOMETHING ELSE TOXIC WE HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT YET). And then there are always the "Red Scare" folks, even though these days, China is more capitalist than the US: <a href="http://dailyreckoning.com/is-china-more-capitalist-than-the-us/" target="_blank">http://dailyreckoning.com/is-china-more-capitalist-than-the-us/</a>However... "Made in Czechoslovakia to ISO 9000 Standards," along with a $1,200-$1,400 price tag sounds mighty good to this 'po boy. If Meopta can do it, Swaro can too. But what do I know, I'm only a guru? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />"The Dude" (not to be confused with falcondude)</blockquote>

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