Service and repairs is certainly a very valid question, and it has to be said that with Godox the situation doesn't look great. It's the same with a lot of products now, that don't have an official UK distributor to handle repairs - and that's one of the main reasons why prices are lower. It's quite possible though, that if there is sufficient demand, an independent repair shop will take on this work at affordable cost (though I'm not holding my breath).
True, but only if the manufacturer makes parts, and their trade secrets, available to potential repairers - what are the chances of that happening? Manufacturers don't actually want their products to last, becasue they want the public to keep buying new products. And what are the chances when the manufacturers don't even begin to understand the concept of customer service, because it doesn't exist in their own country? The system works in China because nearly everything is sold on price alone and if a few customers get upset so what? There are another 1.3 billion to sell to. But in this country, we have transport costs, import duty, VAT, business rates, high wages etc etc and because of this prices are considerably higher, the public expect their expensive toys to last but there's no profit, or infrastructure, available to support the customers - so for most firms, providing REAL customer service isn't even an option when they are competing with the manufacturers selling direct, and with other sellers who evade taxes and import duty.
It's all very well buying cheap bits and pieces from the internet, bits that don't have complicated electronics and that won't kill you if they go wrong, and where the cost is so low that everyone can just afford to throw the product away without a moment's thought, but IMO it's very different with complex electronic equipment that isn't cheap, and which has the potential to cause serious harm if it hasn't been made or designed properly or which doesn't comply with safety regulations - I'm talking here about the situation in general, not about any specific firms of course.
There is a lot that I could say about the way that lighting is going at the moment, but I won't.
Just bear in mind though that I do have some actual, real knowledge about it, after all I've visited all of the Chinese factories worth visiting, I've had endless meetings with their bosses, and I've also had in depth conversations with their engineers. And I fully understand the Chinese business model, which relies on volume, volume and volume.
