When I was 10 years old my AM portable radio had 6 germanium transistors. My friend got one that said on its case, "12 transistors!" so was his better than mine? No, the Japanese cheated because inside 6 of its transistors were connected together in a circle but were not connected to the 6 transistors radio circuit.
36 years ago when Bell's monopoly for telephone systems in Canada ended I worked on Goldstar (S. Korean) office telephone systems. The soldering was the worst I have ever seen. Today Goldstar is called LG (Lucky Goldstar) and make high-tech products properly.