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0 pointstheyregreat8y ago0 comments

Yup. It’s probably a licensing deal with the conservator or some such to give a little coin back to investors/debt-holders. The remaining B&M I’ve encountered basically just sell mobiles, junk like toys, accessories and cables. Maybe a handful of discrete passive components, if you’re lucky.

Heck, in the valley, IRL fulfillment (willcall)/retail of electronic components is limited: (Halted isn’t organized and sells mostly used stuff without ESD management anywhere, Fry’s is a joke). Maybe you can will-call some places (Jameco), but the main sources like FleaBay and DigiKey don’t compare to IRL/right-now like Shenzhen highrise of everything bad fakes, good fakes and authentic. If you’re prototyping and about to do small runs it’s much easier in China because suppliers of all sizes and contract manufacturers right there, and can turn-around PCBs in a couple of hours. America doesn’t have anything remotely close to the density and rapid business efficiency of Shenzhen.

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colejohnson668y ago· 3 in thread

I once heard a rumor that if you get parts manufactured in China, they’ll keep the schematic so they can clone it later on. Not sure how true it is, though.

obrajesse8y ago

I'm currently in the process of manufacturing my first product in China. Last year, I spent upwards of 3 months in Shenzhen. In my experience, that is...not what happens.

Yes, many things get cloned in China. But I have, as yet, not seen a single thing cloned that uses the same design as the original. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I don't believe it to be the most common case. Very often, the copies of a design use local parts that western designers would never choose or are unaware of.

When making clones, the goal is rarely 'make it exactly the same.' More often, it's "make it look the same or work similarly, but cost much less to make." In most cases, a sketchy manufacturer is better off just doing a not-quite-cleanroom reimplementation of your design.

For example, there are clones of the APA102C 'smart' LED that Adafruit sells as a 'dotStar'. (One is branded the 'SK9822'. Some are sold as 'APA102C'. In a VERY weird twist, APA in Taiwan who made the original is now reselling one of the clones as the APA102C-something.) The external appearance is the same. It speaks roughly the same protocol. But the IC inside is a completely different design. In a couple ways, it's a nicer LED, with a couple extra features. It's cheaper, too. But in my use case, it behaved oddly.

jacquesm8y ago

I had that exact same thing happen to me in Europe, so it stands to reason this is an industry wide problem, not just a Chinese problem.

an_account8y ago

There’s legal recourse when it happens in the US or Europe. Not so much in China.

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