How Fake Is Your PC?

"Personal computers are getting faker. The percentage of counterfeit components is growing steadily, if unevenly. Fake components make PCs cheaper. The downside is declining reliability, safety and performance. Is it even possible to keep it real?

A massive crackdown at U.S. and European airports during two weeks in December yielded some 360,000 fake electronic components worth $1.3 billion, including phony Intel chips and about 40 other major brands. The raids were announced last Friday.

Such high-visibility busts mask the difficulty in stopping counterfeit components.

The problem, in a word, is: China. Murky and Byzantine supply chains, lax enforcement of weak intellectual property laws and an outlaw manufacturing culture all contribute to widely available fake PC components mixed together with legitimate parts in the PC components supply chain.

China is the world's leading manufacturer of, well, just about everything. And it's also counterfeit central -- more fake products of all kinds come from China than from the rest of the world combined.

The growing counterfeits problem is the dark side of the incredible cheapness of PCs these days. The driving force is consumers and businesses who view PCs as commodities to be purchased based on price, rather than quality and reliability. Declining margins force OEMs to seek ever cheaper suppliers, which in turn seek out less expensive components. Often, the cheapest part is the fakest part.

It's possible to buy a fully counterfeit PC and think it's original equipment. The Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA) says one in ten IT products sold is fake. But even a computer sold legitimately by a brand-name outfit might have a counterfeit motherboard. And even if the motherboard is real, various chips and parts on that board might be fake."
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