I have often wondered the same myself about many of the manufactures.
I don't know about ET. I would guess they do have a presence by being lurkers. I am sure many of the manufactures are lurkers or roll incognito. A lot of the changes and designed ideas they have probably are derived from posts here.
It has been said many times before, we are sorta a niche group of flashlight buyers. It is impossible to build what we would call the perfect light. Look how much we can argue over just beam tints and profiles, food or throw, clips, knurling, size, material, forward clickie, twisty, and on and on. lol. I have heard many manufactures or builders that are here say, just because we may ask for something doesn't mean it makes good business sense. They are in the business to make money. Some of the things we like, don't always translate into profits. I remember reading one of the manufactures forums. Someone said if you would only build "X" it would sell like crazy. They responded, we did and it didnt sell at all, but if you would commit to buying, something like,,5000 we will build it again.