This is mainly due to the high levels of risk and uncertainty that come with new tech: private firms would generally rather seek out low-risk, low-cost alternatives (i.e. more efficient internal processes or capital goods) than to invest time and effort into developing high-risk, initially-high cost alternatives (i.e. hydrogen fuel cells).
In an innovative twist on the traditional e-commerce formula, Light in the Box leverages those Chinese factories to churn out lower-cost private label products made precisely to customer specifications.