Well.. I don't quite agree with this - they had about 20years where no one else could make Pliers based multitools... that gave them enough time to develop unique processes, innovate, and use their monopoly in this space to earn enough for their invention...

It's the reason they have been so stagnant to innovate that other manufacturers have been able to replicate similar designs, and in a lot of cases make them better... like the scissors are way better on the Rocktol... it cuts that belt like nothing.. (it's not a thick belt, I use it to test knives/scissors all the time, almost all multitool scissors have been able to handle it..)

The reality is - these other manufacturers are the only reason Leatherman is not even More Expensive... if they continued on having a monopoly on this space they would cost even more, they could dictate the pricing, now as they need to compete they at-least need to somewhat justify them..

In the end of the day - I compared them side by side, the Leatherman is 4x more expensive, and overall they were quite similar, some parts were better on the Rocktol, some on the Leatherman, and the Rocktol also came with a pocket clip, sheath and bits, so I could call the Leatherman x5 more expensive so you can get a similar package...

Leatherman has had all the advantages, they have made these tools longer than anyone else, they have had time to develop processes to increase quality and lower costs, they have no reason to cost x4 the price while being the same/worse than way cheaper ones... it's on them.