If you believe that, you'll believe anything!!
Dell, Apple, Sony, Matsushita, Boeing, Airbus, GE, Rolls-Royce, BAe, Westland, Nokia and Motorola are just a few of the companies that have things made in China despite their high-technology content. They have been doing this for upwards of 15 years, and yet I don't see Chinese copies of their products! That angle is paranoia on AMB's part.
Another angle on this is that AMB have no direct competition, and they would be idiots not to take advantage of that position. Where a small competitor has emerged, AMB has refused point blank to co-operate with allocation of numbers (and why would they) leaving the market open only to clones, not originals. Result - AMB have a monopoly that they have ruthlessly exploited - that's business, and that's what any shareholder would expect a business to do.
Please spare me the "exchange rate's gone bad" and "we've been living on borrowed time" excuses. AMB have done what any good company with a technology monopoly would have done, and does do - jacked the price.
I don't blame them for one minute, and it is the price of going racing. I did get one in 2003 which is now worth a lot more than the £32 I paid for it, but when I wanted another one AMB were worse than useless, so I switched to MRT.
If anyone on here is complaining about the price, then I'd be happy to set up a 'number exchange', whereby people living in different countries could 'lease' their numbers out, thus enabling MRT to clone transponders that are almost never going to turn up at the same race meeting. It's called a free market, and AMB had better realise that consumers will not be price gouged forever, and that when they decide not to be, it usually results in that company losing its market. Notice that IBM are not on the list above...
