You are correct on that one. There is no such thing as a "normal" evolution of an economy. It is not foreordained that more developed economies will abandon manufacturing.
In our case, the relative decline in manufacturing (relative -- not absolute -- manufacturing continues to grow in the US) is due to an overinflated dollar that makes foreign goods more affordable than domestic goods.
With a stable dollar and more benign government regulations, the increased capital generated by improved production processes would be reinvested in new lines of manufacturing. Instead, we've siphoned off capital to grow government and playing games with money has replaced investing in the production of tangible goods.
I am not convinced that the few pennies on the dollar saved on third world labor is even passed on to the consumer. It goes to stock holder dividends.