As a result of President Trump’s “List 4” tariffs which took effect on September 1, 2019, Casio is shifting the production of some of its wristwatches (those destined for the U.S. and including G-Shock) from China to Thailand. The tariffs impose a 15% tariff on 91.6% of apparel imports from China. According to a report from Japan, this change of production facilities was implemented on September 3, 2019. Casio already has factories in Thailand where a lot of G-Shock watches are produced for worldwide markets, so the transition is likely to go smoothly and without any disruption to customers.
The made-in-China G-Shock watches are usually the more affordable models, but some pricier models like the G-STEEL GST-B100, G-STEEL GST-B200 and GM-5600 were also being manufactured there, according to www.e-casio.co.jp.
In addition to China and Thailand, Casio also has factories in Japan, where it makes some of the high-end G-Shock models and collaboration watches.
Sorry to hear about your problems. I don’t think any electronics manufacturer has a 0% failure rate, and I’m not sure you can dismiss the overall quality control in China based on one bad experience. Casio has had problems with certain modules before, but I’ve never heard of those problems with the G-9000. Could those problems be related to a diminishing battery? I have a GW-9000 that is still working fine after 10 years. The digits starting becoming faint and the watch wasn’t responding to the buttons, but after a battery change it was fine.
Well, the G-900 is known for being somewhat difficult to put back together after a battery change, but the resulting problems from slight misalignment are usually just the buttons not working. Yeah, sounds like a problem with the module. Good luck with the next one.
Get infomed and be honest. China labor wages have been increased significantly over the past decade. As a metter of fact, their wages are higher than in The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.