@inna well, I'll point back to my original post -> follow the engineers. On this continent, they've left high-end audio for other fields in order to make a living.
But to flesh those thoughts out, consider the number of companies (excepting cable companies, for simplicity) that rose up in North America in the previous generation, and achieved some measure of success or familiarity (off the top of my head - course, I'll miss a bunch): Acoustat, Aerial, Aragon, Atma-Sphere, Audio Alchemy, Audio Research, Avalon, B&K, Boston Acoustics, BEL, Belles, Bryston, CAL, Carver, Cary, CAT, Classe, Coda, Conrad Johnson, Counterpoint, Dahlquist, Dunlavy, Electron Kinetics / Eagle, Fried, Futterman, GAS, Genesis, Hafler, Hales, Infinity, Jeff Rowland Design Group, Joule Electra, Krell, Magnaplanar, Manley, Mark Levinson (the company, not the man), Martin Logan, McCormack, Melos, MFA, Mirage, Music Reference, NHT, Ohm, Quicksilver, Paradigm, Parasound, Phase Linear, Polk, PS Audio, PSB, SAE, Shahinian, Simaudio, Sonic Frontiers, Soundcraftsman, Snell, Spectral, Theil, Theta, Threshold / Pass, Totem, Vandersteen, VAC, VMPS, VPI, VTL, Wadia, Well Tempered, Wilson. Obviously, the founders of these entities have come closer to the end of the road or beyond than the beginning of it, even if they still functionally operate in these companies or went on to form new ventures.
Allowing a somewhat blurry line of demarcation (and I'm pushing the line back probably farther than I should if using the term "recent", but we'll go with pre Y2K), we come to the recent past, what companies have emerged out of the USA and Canada in the current generation? Ayre, BAT, Bel Canto, Blue Circle, Coincident (now adopting offshore production to some degree?), DeVore, Gallo, Herron, Hovland, Lamm, Magico, Rogue, YG Acoustics - welcoming additions to this list to up the count. Even taking the position that the level of quality of design has not dropped off significantly in North America, the quantity and motivation to begin a new venture unquestionably and obviously has
