It is the same in other phases of the consumer electronic industry as well. I used to repair radios years ago when it was generally more cost effective to do so ( today change an entire board or module or buy a new radio..it's often more cost effective ). Some of the circuit boards from Radio Shack and Uniden were identical...of course..it was no secret that Uniden was making the products for Radio Shack, much in the way I believe that Casio is the driving force for all of the Radio Shack home keyboards over the years.

Korg AJ