I think it's clear to say that producing a sub-par product and calling them another's better product is wrong.everyone know, everything is made-in china.
if you look on active componets, mostly are clone or low-quality. this is reasonable that they can sell very low. 100% of them are reseller.
failing genuine Intel card is possible, the question is how many failing in percentage.
the problem is most are hiding to sell fake as genuine intel NIC.
I know one manufacture in China that sell with their brand and do honestly without erase and relabel the chips.
as I know, most fake one are not just fine, this is like a ticking bomb.
this is added from my other experience from buying DIY components.
I'm suggesting that there's a business and market strategy of Intel's that is acerbating the issue. It might be caught between the conflicting need for low prices in some markets and excellent warranties in others.
I'm suggesting that perhaps if Intel sold it's NICs at a lower price point everywhere, the issue might be eased. Competitive and market characteristics aside, it might just be wanting to retain a high profit margin.
Right now Intel makes a higher priced product and the third-parties make money on cheapo products. Everyone winning but me the consumer