Interesting question.
A lot of variables, many covered in John R's video.
I generally agree that cutting out the middleman helps, but there are likely other cuts made as well.
Here's my knee-jerk list of potential savings:
Raw Material Cost ( lumber and allowable quality of lumber )
Raw Material Yield ( multi-piece construction process )
Component Cost ( frets, knobs, pots, strings... )
Labor Cost ( efficiency/quality and value balance )
Labor Expectation ( quantity, focus, strict behavior regulation )
Location Cost ( location, location, location )
Utility Cost ( climate - HVAC... )
Corporate Incentive ( government or local )
Corporate structure ( all levels of management costs, limited management )
Healthcare/Medical, or not
Pension, or not
Overhead ( components on hand, raw materials aging/drying )
Diversified manufacturing ( the HB factory may also make other brand products (?) )
Quality Control ( structured allowable QC, expected allowable "brand" QC )
Marketing, or not ( Social media is a killer marketing source for HB, and has very low cost to HB/Thomann, but there is a cost. )
Customer Support ( This is a cost that Thomann can absorb and disperse by selling many brands, yet it is likely tracked per brand )
Distribution (mfg to distributor/retailer, no additional middleman brick and mortar )
Brand Name ( Yes, brand name, or lack of )
Expected Corporate profit margin ( Mfg Board of Directors? )
Investors, or not ( non-producer )
and more.
In general, the sum of things listed above result in a Manufacturing location of choice, and potentially the lowest possible cost of product.
If the same quantity and quality can be found for less elsewhere, then that is where the next factory will be, China, Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, my garage...
Cory Mura had a good interview with the Thomann mind behind HB. I was glad to hear that Thomann does take QC seriously, and are making adjustments in sourcing materials and likely labor. I honestly question if Thomann actually inspects every HB product, and I expect the Thomann QC tags are likely put on at the Factory, and not at Thomann’s facility, but I could be wrong.
As stated in John R's video, the contrast in hourly labor cost is huge based on location. But I wonder if that even factors in additional costs associated when comparing US vs. Chinese employees?
Healthcare, Vacation time, Social Security, Worker Compensation, ESOP/Pension/401K and more. The cost gap may be greater than stated in his video, but I'm not clear on what was included in his ratio. How about employee turn-over?
I can't buy parts and lumber for what the most expensive HB guitar costs, but I still build em anyway.
I wonder what Thomann’s mark-up is? Hmm.