Hey, Your IC chips are fake...

So yesterday, I was roaming around Huaqiang Bei Shenzhen China, The biggest electronic market in Asia or might be in the world, to buy a laptop for myself. And I saw a sea of IC chips, hundreds of shops filled with IC chips but being an insider I knew that half of those ICs are refurbished or fake. But the real question is...

How can you know that IC is refurbished/fake or new & Original...

I am going to share 5 points to assist you to solve this problem.

1. Don't try to be a Tarzan and talk directly with a stockist in the market. Always try to buy via an independent distributor like #Mogultech to avoid unnecessary risks. I have a story for you...

One of my clients was forcing me to find a #broadcom component and I told him many times that the market is empty but he did not listen to me and decided to talk directly with a stockist from #guangzhou who has stock. My client was wise and asked me to buy from that stockist on their behalf. When my company #Mogultech contacted that stockist, he revealed that the stock is refurbished. But he never told my client that the stock is refurbished. So, the Moral of the story is, Always ask an insider to help you with the purchase.

1. If your component is expensive then ask your Broker to do third-party testing for you. You must do four tests 1. External Visual test. 2. Solderability test. 3. Decapsulation test 4. X-Ray. (In the next Article we will discuss in detail third-party testing). Check the sample of standard White horse report at the end.
2. Try to verify the component number from the #ERAI website about counterfeiting. They have a good database of counterfeit part numbers.
3. Check the part number carefully on the Commercial invoice against the original label. Sometimes there will be a change of one digit or one letter. you are gonna miss it if you do not check carefully
4. Ask for the enhanced resolution pictures and label pictures. Then ask your QC team to check those pictures and label.

By the way, I bought a Lenovo Thinkbook 14+ laptop. Was it the right decision or not?