I know nothing about these companies, but it's worth keeping in mind that this is the period after China joined the WTO and integrated deeper into the global ec

I know nothing about these companies, but it's worth keeping in mind that this is the period after China joined the WTO and integrated deeper into the global economy for manufacturing -- so it's possible that these NJ manufacturers couldn't compete on cost with the Chinese ones, or even that these bankruptcies might have been part of an offshoring reorientation (either within the organization, or in the sector at large, which happened to asphyxiate certain suppliers). It's even possible that bankruptcies were strategically engineered by private equity to sequester profitable modules and discharge obligations, opportunistically exploiting macro trends. Ultimately, I think the takeaways might be far more nuanced and interesting than "pricing by value" -- there's no reason customers will pay more if your competition can make and sell good products costing less :-)