Technics moving all turntable production to Malaysia


I haven’t seen this reported anywhere. Heard it first from a dealer and now have confirmed it with Technics directly:

All turntables, even the SL-1000R, are leaving Japan and moving to a new facility in Malaysia. Everything’s going under one roof. Technics is halted now and they’ll start up the new production line in Malaysia on April 1. 

If the product is the same then that’s what matters most, but this definitely marks the end of an era and I’m sure the reaction will be mixed.
notman
Its too bad. Very rarely, IME is quality ever the same when production is offshored.  There are instances when it is as good so we will have to see what happens.
The  only place we've read about this is from a new poster who hasn't been back and who's posted the same claim on two forums.  As to the tubestore with its diatribe, the owner is off the rails and what's printed there is not actually anything but a claim.
If this were true, why do all search results for the query as to Technics' plans lead to this topic and a similar one on audiokarma. 

Why do people believe this is true based on an anonymous poster's claim???
That’s an entirely fair question. It’s very true I’m a nobody here. All I can say is I honestly just thought it was a piece of news about a storied brand that would be of interest and conversation so I shared it a couple places. It’s not true to say I haven’t been back. As you can tell from my follow-up, I’m not some troll trying to stir up peoples’ emotions. I don’t deeply care about the move myself, hence I’m not replying constantly to gin people up.
Also, you’re not alone, by now I too figured someone would have corroborated this from a conversation with a dealer. I repeat: what happened is I was told this by two separate senior sales staff from a Technics dealer in the US, then I contacted Technics (not the US office, they’re useless) directly via email and they confirmed. Anyone can check my work by talking to a dealer or Technics. If you do, please report back. It’s only fair if I’m going to be called out with suspicion.