We can and do because we use franchised distributors, source all components ourselves and outsource build-only to a trusted, reliable assembler. Every manufacturer could do the same (or in-house build) but if you want to save cost by outsourcing to China, then yes, forget it. It is cost saving and profit greed that allows counterfeiting.
In your naive world there would be no counterfeit money either 
There is money to be made so somehow somewhere there is always someone who manages to slip in counterfeit items and make a profit.
Can we stop the fake money analogy? Handing over money in the form of notes and coins in a shop carries with it no provenance; you have not thought your analogy through. Once in circulation no records are kept of its movement and there is no traceability as no provenance is expected. A respectable manufacturer does not source components from the back of a van or on ebay. It should be able to trace back its source of components to a responsible party a number of years after it has integrated them into its products and if it cannot then it should review its sourcing procedure. Anybody with ISO9001 can do this and all others should be responsible enough to do this too. If this is not standard practice then counterfeiting will hit businesses and customers and FTDI has provided an example of such.
The argument has been raised that these counterfeit chips may have been inserted by a rogue employee on a production line. I am interested to know if anyone has first hand evidence of this and what the details are. What does this employee do with the authentic chips? Surely they would get little money from them as they would have to sell them on the grey market, and might be just as well to sell the fake chips for the same price in a sell and run operation. Or are we suggesting that 'chip laundering' is rife? If so, in a big operation, end of production line checks should, as far as possible, ensure that marked chips match the components (revision codes/date codes/other markings are all possible on bigger chips) entering the production line. The employer is responsible for the actions of an employee. The manufacturer is responsible to their customers (via their vending outlets) for any counterfeit chips in their products.
So what are these criminal employees doing? Smuggling in and out a handful of chips each day? Is that really going to be the way the majority of the fakes have entered production lines? Lazy cheap outsourcing will be the main reason where a sub-contractor has consciously bought a bulk load of cheap chips to save a few bucks with no questions asked (or even known them to be counterfeit). With this FTDI issue, my guess is that we are talking about cheap goods on ebay, and incompetent, irresponsible or desperate small internet vendors and manufacturers. Microboy, you have my sympathies but you should have bought that 2k reel, given that you have not even named your other source (it must be dodgy!). A micro business often has to take the MOQ hit or take the risk. What the designers in that microbusiness should be doing is considering the availability of a part early in the design stage (as well as expected production life etc); it is as important as a component's spec when looking to make small quantities.
Naive world? I do not understand. I run a small successful electronics manufacturing business. I am not siding with anyone. I am not condoning FTDI's actions. I am not saying that counterfeit products do not exist. I am not saying that bad businesses exist. What I am saying is that they should not and if a customer finds one that is not prepared to help sort out their FTDI problem then that business should be flamed. I am also saying a manufacturer should warranty their products against containing counterfeit parts and be very careful where they source components. Interestingly, very few people (any?) in this massive thread have actually bothered to state the details of the product and vendor when they have encountered a PID0 issue.
My comment that you commented upon was pulling up someone for erroneously saying that a manufacturer cannot provide a 100% guarantee of no counterfeit goods in their products. Perhaps we are mistaking each other's interpretation of the word 'guarantee'. For me it essentially means warranty accompanying the sale of a product such that the product should work as advertised.
Home
Help
Search
Login
Register
