When we hear the word counterfeit we usually think of money. However, although currency was one of the first and most counterfeited items, there are many other items being counterfeited today. Everything — medicines, auto parts, computer peripherals, electronic components, designer handbags, high end watches, and anything of value — is now being counterfeited.
Most of these counterfeits are produced using inferior material and
workmanship. Some can be dangerous, like cell phone batteries that explode or medicines that can kill. In 2008, counterfeit consumer goods were estimated to be a 250 billion dollar market, approximately 5 to 7 percent of world trade. Most of the counterfeits come from emerging countries. Leading the pack with an estimated 90 percent of the total is China. Counterfeit parts are fast becoming a serious problem for the electronics component industry. It is estimated that over 20% of all electronic components from connectors to high end circuit boards are now being counterfeited in small shops in the USA and Asia. The majority of counterfeit parts are from China. China’s counterfeit parts make up majority of all Asian parts getting into military electronics and aviation. About 15% of all parts sold are considered counterfeit. The most popular method of counterfeiting seems to be sorting through scrap material to find similar components and then refinishing them. The world’s electronic scrap is collected and sent to a few Asian countries, China being one of them. There are warehouses full of workers who remove parts from circuit boards and sort them first by package type then they continue sorting them next by manufacturer and sometimes all the way down to the part number. Keep in mind that these workers are not using proper ESD precautions, nor were the parts protected from the elements on their journey to China. So even if they are the same part number the chances of them working properly are slim. Another popular counterfeiting method is the change part number or manufacturers name.
Starting with a similar part and then marking it to the customer’s order. An order for a Motorola part comes in but the counterfeiter only has Philips parts so he’ll resurface and remark the Philips component with the Motorola part number and logo and sell it as a new Motorola part. The parts may work for some applications, but often there are slight differences between manufacturers of similar parts which can cause problems that may result in fatal consequences.
Using electronic component x-ray tests for
Shows Broken connections with X-RAYS 1
quality and can tell if products are counterfeit or faulty as you can see the broken connections in the x-rayed chips above.
Conclusion
The threat of counterfeit components has never been greater. Counterfeiting is too profitable and difficult to stop. The high tech supply chain has never been more vulnerable, and the costs of counterfeit have never been so high. Every time legitimate supply chains adopt a new approach to stop fakes, the criminal will adapt and defeat them. Markings, labels, testing - all of these are just temporary defenses against highly motivated and well financed criminal syndicates.
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