But my point is why pick on Apple's Smart Case? Most every electronic device or accesory you buy is cheaply manufactured overseas. That's why they're made overseas. A product's price has little to do with the cost of manufacturing and everything to do with what the market will bear.
But then, I
don't buy accessories which are cheaply made overseas and resold at a vast markup. I have two iPad cases, one from Oberon Design and another from Treegloo, both of which are small design studios and their items are hand-made/customized to order in the US itself. These are not cheaply made nor are they cheaply sold - well, the Treegloo was quite a reasonable price although Oberon has always been a premium product - but when you look at the materials and craftsmanship, you know you are getting value for money.
I've always felt (and I've said this before on other threads) that third-party mass vendors like Belkin, Targus, etc, make crazy profits because they will design and make a product cheaply overseas, add some flashy packaging and push the product aggressively with marketing, and of course charge as high as they dare. The Apple smartcover falls into that category of "made cheap, sold dearly", so of course it's fair criticism.
More than once I've seen a particular product being sold under their brand at a markup, and then finding a very similar-looking product on Fleabay from a no-name Chinese-based vendor at a fraction of the price. (For all I know, it's the same factory selling the same product, just without the "brand".)