[throawayalwayz]

OP never mentioned cheap soldering - where did you get that from? The issue (as I understand it) is that the design and manufacture of most electrical components is happening offshore. The biggest fab in the world is in Taiwan. We aren't talking about cheap soldering, we are talking about the semiconductor work that drives most hardware.

We are starting to see a few hardware startups but most of the jobs created are still overseas as manufacturing happens abroad. Most of the EEs I know switched into CS fields because of reasons like this. I wonder where the future of EE lies.

[revelation]

OP said 'cheaper to manufacture'.

[throawayalwayz]

Cheaper to manufacture means something completely different from soldering. That's a huge and nonsensical leap you make there. Soldering isn't even the largest cost associated with electronics and semiconductor manufacturing.