2011 set record for fake electronics parts

PanARMENIAN.Net - Asian countries led by China are responsible for the vast majority of reports of counterfeit electronics parts, which have reached 12 million over the past five years in a potentially lethal development for the global supply chain, according to analyst IHS iSuppli.

The Register reported that citing data from supply chain monitoring organization, ERAI, the market watcher claimed that 2011 was a record year with 1,363 counterfeit incidents reported.

However, with each incident potentially involving thousands of individual parts, IHS calculated that over the past five years there have actually been reported 12 million, or one counterfeit part every 15 seconds.

Although the US led the way in 2011, as the country where most reports were logged (33 per cent), China was just behind with 32.3 per cent and when combined with other Asian countries such as Japan (1.7 per cent), South Korea (4.3 per cent) and Singapore (7.6 per cent) the total reaches close to 50 per cent – the largest for any global region.

Furthermore, the countries where the counterfeit parts originated are overwhelmingly Asian, with Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and the Philippines accounting for 64 per cent, IHS said, with the caveat that counterfeiters are adept at hiding the true origin of their products.