TE also does general industrial design work for external clients. Their mechanical engineering capabilities seemed less fully developed.

I like their ID work, but at some level it seems more like well-proportioned, carefully considered graphic design - rectilinear forms with radii and cylindrical knobs. I can't count the number of ID projects I've worked on where an OP-1 was used as inspiration.

[source: A company I worked for worked on a project which started with TE doing ID and ME. We took their prototype level ME further, but not sure where the project ended up.]

Great design and designers exist everywhere. There's nothing extrinsic to the companies in the US, Europe or Asia that makes any of them better at design. It's all about the internals of the companies themselves.

I would say, however, that Teenage Engineering is "small" enough to take the kinds of risks that bigger companies just aren't able to do (even with much more money). Here's a fast company article (https://www.fastcompany.com/3016739/more-than-an-office-teen...) from 2015. They claim wide variety of backgrounds and keep their facilities modest. At the time they released the first incarnation of the OP-1, they had 30 employees.

Contrast that with KORG, who a few years ago created a "lab" in Berlin staffed with superstars with intention of creating ground-breaking music tech (https://youtu.be/Y0NY6iUqbEM). They clearly poured A LOT of money into that venture. Similar kind of hipster vibe, but what became of it? I don't know but it seems like Teenage Engineering is doing just fine.

I mean there is no secret that Teenage Engineering is very inspired by the European early and mid 1900s design movement. I remember hearing an interview with Jesper Kouthoofd the lead Designer about how they approach product design in the same way as graphic design, just with more surfaces then a paper. Everything is based on a grid (Josef Muller-Brockmann and the International design movement), with focus on simple shapes and a few primary colors (Bauhaus). And just comparing the OB-4 speaker with the Braun T520 radio I think it's safe to say that Dieter Rams has also been a great inspiration.

So for sure there is a lot of European design heritage going in to these products. But personally I think the main reason we don't see this kind of design coming from the US right now simply comes down to the fact that minimalism as a concept goes against typical North-American culture.

What about Apple? I think most Apple products are incredibly beautiful

Weird thing to say considering all of their designs are clearly influenced by an American company (Apple).