Just about any nation which has undergone large-scale industrialisation started off copying someone else.
Swiss watches? Developed by British and French watchmakers escaping religious persecution in their home countries.
Japanese cameras and other consumer electronics? Started off as cheap knock-offs of Western products.
You learn a lot from importing technology and using it to copy stuff until you reach a level of skill where you realise you can do this just as well as the original makers.
That is the point where you start looking into other barriers to market share - like poor QC, dodgy reputation etc. (Also, that is probably the point where you start designing and building your own assembly lines, too.)
Swiss watches? Developed by British and French watchmakers escaping religious persecution in their home countries.
Japanese cameras and other consumer electronics? Started off as cheap knock-offs of Western products.
You learn a lot from importing technology and using it to copy stuff until you reach a level of skill where you realise you can do this just as well as the original makers.
That is the point where you start looking into other barriers to market share - like poor QC, dodgy reputation etc. (Also, that is probably the point where you start designing and building your own assembly lines, too.)