China Electronics and the Art of the Hardware Mashup
Posted August 24th, 2010 by Jeevan Kalanithi under News
I returned recently from a visit to our contract manufacturing partner in China – I always enjoy going there and seeing how things are progressing. I could write at length about the ways that start ups like us can and do work with massive, highly resourced, highly skilled factories in the Far East – but I’ll save that for another post.
I’d instead like to share with you some photos and thoughts about “Shanzhai” products being made in China. (Bunnie Huang has written extensively about the Shanzhai and I jotted some notes down a while back as well. Google the term for more info.)
In a nutshell, “Shanzhai” refers to groups of engineers, designers, hackers and manufacturers operating in China that build electronic products for gray-to-black markets: knock-off “iFones”and the like. These guys are not just simple counterfeiters though; they are creating all kinds of new (and often strange) products outside the normal channels of large companies.
Because they don’t care about obeying IP or trademark restrictions, they do some stuff you won’t see in your local Target or Best Buy. And because they operate outside the law, they do some crazy brand mash-ups too.
Walk around the electronics markets in Shenzhen and you’ll see these devices. I saw a great iRobot-branded iPad knock-off with the Android character on it, which was a pretty excellent combination of three brands.
But here’s one I really liked: the G1-on-the-outside + iPhone-on-the-inside smartphone. (Apologies for the picture quality, I took them with my very official iPhone 3G):
The creators of the device faithfully recreate icons and interactions down to the tiniest detail, but they do deviate in interesting ways. First, the real last-mile polish is just not there. The touchscreen is just difficult to use: you have to scrape with your fingernail and really push. I think they used a cheaper resistive touchscreen.
But it has a fully working TV tuner: straight-up rabbit ears! You can tune in to local TV and watch it on your phone. The antenna even rotates so you can watch in landscape mode.
It’s easy to dismiss these products as the work of cheats and counterfeiters, but that is only half the story. A lot of innovation is occurring in the Pearl River Delta, unencumbered by law and protocol. As an entrepreneur here in the USA, it is fascinating to observe this kind of hardscrabble creativity playing out in different ways in different places.
Hello there… I’m curious, how did you source these manufacturers? I google this yet only come up with general information. Is there not some sort of trade office that represents these manufacturers?
Good luck with Sifteo… looks like you’re on to a winner.
James
We work with a group of guys that have worked in manufacturing in China for a long time – they helped us find and vet factories, mostly based on their personal experience. As far as I know, there’s not a general resource out there – finding someone who’s done it before to show you the ropes seems to be the most prevalent option. I do know some friends with CE startups that went to shows (like CES) to find factories – some manufacturers will set up booths.
as interesting as this might be , I’ve been following the story of sifteo since the Ted video quite a while back. And what’s interesting for most of the people following is when they might be able to get their hands on the product. For me it was mainly to do with the fact that my kids just seem to be at the right age where they would benefit from the word and numbers play .any chance for a product update ?
Just arrived home from China. Shanzhai is the best place to make electronic products becouse the are all electronic parts that you need and factorys is in one region. SEG market incredible place. There also alot of other markets near and to see all of them needs more than 2 week.
I have bought in SEG market Shanzhai mobile phone with pico projector, Pico projector with 533 mhz CPU inside and Windows CE, batery on 2 hours. Also HD camera recorder with pico-projector.
[...] of the gray-to-black market products built in China with no regards for intellectual property laws and found some unique, but interesting combinations: Walk around the electronics markets in Shenzhen and you’ll see these devices. I saw a great [...]
As a technology fiend/geek, I can’t help but point out that that’s not a G1 (HTC Dream), more of a G2 – HTC Magic body.
China’s “black”market goods are truly fantastic though, I’ve considered getting myself an iPed…
[...] of the gray-to-black market products built in China with no regards for intellectual property laws and found some unique, but interesting combinations: Walk around the electronics markets in Shenzhen and you’ll see these devices. I saw a great [...]
I’ve always wondered, when I see startups, and established companies alike, take their intellectual properties to china for mass reproduction, if they fear that all that new R&D is going to be pillaged for a black market device.
Do you ever fear that siftables will be the next target, of a “affordable” crossover device.
I know there’s no more affordable way in this now tight and competitive market then out sourcing to china, and I’m not suggesting we live in fear over it, but when does creative reverse engineering become clear theft that deters from the original quality and profit margin of the product and the R&D spent on it…I would be concerned.