I got on the Katadyn site recently and sent an email to customer service asking where the 123 is made today. Answer: Taiwan.
So China in the eyes of some in the international community but certainly not the Taiwanese! It could be made there as well as it was in Sweden - the fact it isn't is down to Katadyn.
I have said elsewhere that there was no evidence to support statements that the Optimus 123R was made in China. I was right....Taiwan is NOT China!
The correspondence I have seen would indicate they have been made in China. Whether that was an error based on ignorance (believe it or not but on our registration page country selection, Taiwan was listed Taiwan -Province of China) or maybe they've moved production from China to Taiwan, I don't know.
Maybe there is more than one manufacturing plant... I have seen many products where the company deliberately set manufacturing plants in more than one country. I am sure companies that have manufacturing in Japan (semiconductors, car subsystems) are sorry now that they do not have another plant. Yonadav
Whether Taiwan is or is not China is a very touchy subject. Taiwan ROC (Republic of China) is a remnant of the pre-Communist state of Chiang Ki-Shek until he was defeated on the mainland by Mao Tse-Tung. The ROC retains its claim to be the legitimate government of China. The PRC (commie mainland) claims ownership of the island territory of the ROC, but hasnt had the stones to invade it (yet). Watch for this to change if/when US hegemonic power declines relative to China. There is a movement to call BS on all this and declare Taiwan to be an independent state, but this gets no love from either the PRC or the ruling establishment in the ROC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_independence From a strictly practical point of view, Taiwan is most definitely not China.
Isn't the salient point to this discussion the "quality" of the stoves and whether said quality differs if it is made in the "real" China or in Taiwan? Stan
It is & the quality does not have to suffer if manufacturing is moved - that's down to the company. I think many think it sad that such an iconic Swedish product is no longer made in Sweden. That would be the case wherever else it was made. Not unusual in our globalised world. Our parent company is Japanese & has affected plants in Japan but does have capacity elsewhere, including China.
I have seen a lot of products come out of Taiwan that were very high quality. I would probably not balk at a 123 made there if I was only interested in a heat source. As a collector, I prefer Sweden.
Primus have some production in Estonia and subcontracted production in Mainland China. I've visted one of the Chinese subcontractors several times.. Good bunch of guys... Cheers John
The company may be headquartered in Taiwan, but the manufacturing is almost certainly somewhere across the strait on the mainland. My friends from Taiwan tell me this is the norm in Taiwan now, very close business relationship between the two -- but all the labor is done on the mainland.
I have one of these eastern made 123Rs and find it to a very satisfactory little stove. I have a Sievert 123 as well. The pressing on the Sweedish stove is a bit sharper giving the older stove clearer and more pleasing lines. The only hang up I had with the Taiwanese made stove was when the wick slid out of the burner tube. Not a big problem for me, but could have been for someone else. Otherwise a good little stove. Rick
