When I said China, i meant with that all manufacturers not coming from "premium brands".. There could be products from Easter Europe or whatever..
As for quality, if for instance Rigol is taken, it steadily goes up.. As for bad English in documentation, well, you should try reading English documentation written in Italy
Problem is that T&M products were always so expensive that manufacturers were treating buyers like a buyers of luxury goods: " it better be perfect, and have good service and such for the money I paid".
Also some of the manufacturers (HP for instance) had business model based on service not equipment.. So people who could afford it were basically spoiled and pampered and being charged for it.
HP was always equipment with a "room service".. And others had to follow at least to some extent..
Rolls Royce, or an Mercedes of old... And than came Toyotas and Hondas, at first cheap and reliable enough, than they came to point that they are more reliable than practically any premium brand..
There is no helicopter service but they don't break either.. And normal people can buy them...
I think that industry will polarize, like with everything else, that everything except special instruments, that by virtue of them being very cutting edge or simply made of gold if you wish, everything except them, will be made by new tier of good reliable brands, they will be good and priced reasonably..
I agree with you.
I think the earliest/first products from companies like HP/Tektronix etc, were similar (in principle), to Rigols (as an example). It would not surprise me if in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years time. Rigol ends up being like another Philips (Test equipment), Fluke or even HP/Tektronix (especially on the lower end of the test gear stuff).
If most/all countries of the West, tried to start up their own, massive new Shenzhen/China/Silicon-valley or similar very large scale electronics zone. With huge relaxation of laws (within reason), planning applications, taxation and many other rules/regulations and red-tape. Maybe even the country themselves, investing money in the zone(s), with big grants and other incentives.
They could also begin their own new "Silicon Valley". But in practice, with the way things seem to work in the US/Europe and other western countries. The complete opposite of this, seems to be true.
E.g. One of the reasons for Brexit occurring (probably much lower down than the other reasons), may have been excessive red tape from the EU. With all the EU's rules and regulations, hampering peoples attempts at starting an economic/viable/profitable business in Electronics and similar fields.
tl;dr
China created "Shenzhen", on purpose. With great success (apparently).
I just CAN'T see the west doing something similar. In the longer term, I think that could be bad for the west. With China becoming increasingly more and more like a super power, each day. With China's extensive military power buildup. It could go horribly wrong one day.
A sort of North Korea, but with a huge number of very powerful nuclear weapons, complete with the means to deliver them big distances, and a modern powerful military force to go with it.
I'm disappointed that the West has just stood by, and let China grab, a huge amount of the Electronics world production, and market place etc.
If there ever is a world war 3, or big war. Electronics is probably going to be an extremely important part of it. Losing Electronics in such a big way, to China. Could be a terrible mistake.
Some people have (jokingly, but some people are worried that it might come true, or even already be true), that some of the parts for the US's, later/latest military super jets, actually come from China and/or need stuff from China, to help finish it off.
E.g. Rare Earth Elements (or whatever it is called), are vital for military fighting jets. Yet, most of it (at least until recently), only came from China.
If I was a Western test equipment manufacturer, I would be very worried about China and their massive electronics capabilities. They could potentially copy or make a similar device, and the test equipment business could suffer very badly.
tl;dr2
Test equipment, is probably very important (in its own right), during a possible bigger war. So relying on China for most of the Wests test equipment, is probably not the safest of options. Given that possible enemies, such as North Korea or Russia (or even China themselves), would tend to be friendly/supported by China. Who may refuse to send electronics to the US, if they so decide.
Maybe test equipment (and other electronic things), should have been better protected by the West. I.e. The West should have kept a lot more Electronics manufacturing and other stuff, within the West. For best military safety in the longer term.