Hi There,
I think in the manufacturing world these days, assembled in where, made in where may not be that important. I guess even the device makes stick a "Made in Japan" label for example, there may be chances that most of the sub components within which arrives at the factory or plant in pre-assembled subassemblies that may come from bedok, jurong, taiwan or even china - it can even be made anywhere.
As long as the manufacuring sites are govern by the same quality standards from the homebase, I guess thats the only thing we can rely on - with the given warranty period as the backup if anything fails.
To answer your questions, yes the A700 and the grip have Made in Japan labels on them ...for now. Maybe once the product is stabilised and ramping up of quantity is neccessary, to be cost effective well maybe they'll move to somewhere cheaper :dunno:.
I dont see anything wrong with products made outside japan...such as malaysia, thailand, china, Indonesia etc... Most importantly is the product must have a good warranty offering.
As for the A700, sony offers a warranty period extension if you activiate your warranty online.
