That's what the bike shop owner and his son did.They dismantled a hub and found it to be put together rather shoddy.
Plastic parts where there use to be metal. This is someone who has been in the business 40 odd years so i guessed he knew what he was on about.
Perhaps if you dismantle a pre 2000 one there may be and i believe the bike shop owner over an Internet forum member that there will be a difference. As sturmey archer was bought in 2000 by Sun Race Sturmey archer inc and operations were moved to Taiwan.
Lets face it is anything of any real quality that's made in the far east.
i'm intrigued. please ask him again, i've yet to see a plastic part inside an SA hub.
as for dismantling pre2000, nottingham built hubs, i've done dozens from 1950-1999
and taiwan making inferior components? that's just about 99% of bikes and parts now, along with vacuum cleaners, dvd players, mobile phones, everything