Wouldnt that be a threat to a manufacturer like Bitmain? I think it is in their interest to pump BTC than give up and lose their billion dollar company. I know this is shocking, but Bitmain is already earning billions from ASIC miners.
We have seen this kind of pump done by them during the halving of mining rewards.
Yes - though Bitmain is insulated by the fact there are now so many bitcoin forks for miners to mine - bitcoincash, bitcoingold, etc etc.