Will China become the poor man’s dealer for high end audio?

They have made serious inroads not only with their own products, some of which are very good, but also because they are producing so much product for American brands. It's too bad, and I would rather buy American, but as a have-not, that isn't always affordable.

OP… “With the insane prices now being asked for audio equipment from manufacturers around the globe”.

I am puzzled at the question. I don’t think insane prices (so, say high ticket, Boulder, and dCS… etc) are even remotely being competed in products from China. The performance of these products far exceeds anything from China. Not even mid tier priced audiophile gear… say Audio Research, Conrad Johnson. Now yes, in the modest price stuff where Schiit operates.. yes they are competing there… but then there is Schiit.

So, yes in the very low end China is very competitive. I have a Prima Luna integrated amp that is a very good value for the money.

My chineese Hidizs dac low cost is insanely good... For his price...There is better for sure, but i cannot fault it really... And there is a diminishing return zone which is subjectivily and objectivily characterized zone...My only upgrade , a real upgrade from it will cost me 40 times his price... Not a marginal improvement with few thousand bucks but a REAL upgrade...The real upgrade will be American made by the way...

On the other hand my old german engineering school the hybrid AKG K 340 beat most chinese Hifiman headphones probably at any price save one perhaps or two of the costlier one i dont know ...And i am not interested to buy one even if i could...

My hifiman HE 400 sound by far as complete junk, less good than my Akg k701 which i dislike too and anyway was made as junk compared to the K340 as were my 9 others headphone anyway ... ( the chinese He 400 break on my head from his own bad design i did not weep so bad it was in spite of positive reviewers) Yes i must say i dont like headphones in general .. Save my actual one...

There is no general truth without many exceptions ... Each product has his own engineeering history and context...

But claiming that there is not much audiophiles with money in China NOW with no good high end products in China NOW is not realistic... Just think about how many good engineers there is and how many good pianists for the population size ?

Way more than in America now... Canada included...

"By some estimates, the country has as many as 40 million piano students, compared with six million in the United States. " It is the same for engineers numbers..

Who knows all audiophile top products from China from the last 10 years ?

Just my big rock of salt...

Just for the record, high end audio has always consisted of high priced items. Also, China’s place in this world is changing.  Labor cost in China have soared.  The business environment has soured.  It is difficult to predict the future, but the high end electronic value manufacturing countries just might be distributed throughout a number of fast developing countries.  Also, the ability to design and not just copy can be found in China as well as many other countries with lower manufacturing costs.

Lastly, there is no way that people in our community can be depicted as “have-nots”.  I managed to buy used and build my own speakers at a time that I didn’t have the finances to buy a car.  I appreciated my system then much as I appreciate my current system now.  How can you be a “have-not” if you appreciate what you have?

I think maybe you meant to say “manufacturer” rather than “dealer,” no? This is not new and many manufacturers have been designing equipment in the US and Europe for decades and having them manufactured in China. Actually, the speakers I bought over 20 years ago were designed here and built there, and it’s an attractive business model as long as quality control is good at the factory (think Apple products). In the mid-to-longer term China’s labor rates will continue to rise and other countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, etc. will become relatively more attractive and cost-effective options similarly to how China attracted manufacturing business in the past, and businesses will begin to migrate there instead. Frankly I’m pretty amazed by companies like Schiit, Rogue and some others who can play in the budget/midFi categories and still manufacture here in the US what with our significantly higher wages, health benefits, and overall costs of doing business — truly impressive.