Copycat usually lasts until its original dies. however when it comes to copycat business of the world there's three different phases for those who copy. Or rather three different level of copycatting.
First generation copycater is Japanese and they stole bunch of technologies to produce Japan version of copycat product. When Zenith or GE has huge bulgy radio receiver set Sony copied the product and made it into portable transistor radio receiver. Same thing happened to Cassette tape stereo system and Sony walkman.
The second generation copycater is the S. Korea where they copied from Japan and they made their copied product cheaper than their original focusing on price-performance formula. For sometime it does not seem to work well as people are attached to brand name like Sony or Toyota. However economic tumultuousness made people to rethink the value of brand. People begins to buy product with higher price-performance ratio. S Korean and Taiwanese products fall into exactly this category.
This price-performance turn around also opened a door to next level of copycatting which is shameless direct copycatting without any consciousness. This door was opened by PRC. As communists living under communist party rule Chinese usually do not respect anything not tangible nor materialistic. It would eventually lead them to copy everything from everybody without feeling any shame or guilt because a white cat or a black cat can catch the mouse.
But the copycat dies when there's nobody they can copy from. First generation copycater has reiterated their strategy to make materials and high precision electronic and machinery parts that nobody could copy. The second generation copycater who has focused on making it cheaper now faces serious problem among other bigger and cheaper copycater like Chinese.
The second generation copycater does not have long history of copying things nor basic R&D capability that 1st generation copycater has and their follower caught them up too fast. They will probably be crashed between 1st and 3rd gen. copycaters.
Third gen. copycater with gigantic amount of their capital wanted to survive when they face nobody to copy from situation by buying out a lot of fallen brands of US and Europe. US president Donald Trump has decided to make this impossible by enforcing legal measure against Chinese buyout.
People says software eats the world up however Chinese also eats up or rather devours those remnant technology of US and Europe. This will retaliate those who throw them out like we can see from Segway case. Foul play must be stopped.