crunchgear in china Archive

  • CrunchGear in China: Shanzhai Market

    CrunchGear in China: Shanzhai Market

    The cellphone market in Shenzhen is like a flea market where everyone is selling the same thing. If it looks like an iPhone, it’s here. There are hundreds of models, hundreds of odd names, and hundreds of people arrayed along the inside of a huge room. There are four or five floors of this mess. [...]

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  • CrunchGear in China: The Factory

    CrunchGear in China: The Factory

    The driver pulled up to a small office complex in the heart of the city and beckoned us into the back of his scuffed white van. The surface of the vehicle was caked in dust and the seats, clad in new blue velvet, were sized for someone much smaller. I curled up in the back [...]

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  • CrunchGear in China

    CrunchGear in China

    Greetings from sunny Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong. I've spent some time in Asia - at least the tech centers - and have never found a place like this. It's like Blade Runner meets 1990s Prague meets the end of the world. I'm here to report on what's going on here in terms of electronics and how it's changing the way we think about price, cost, and value. It's pretty crazy. Thirty years ago Shenzhen was a rice paddy, a town of about 50,000 souls. Today it is a hive, and a dirty one at that. Smog is a way of life. As the sun goes down over the city, the streets take on an amber cast and the darkness falls quickly. There are no picturesque sunsets here. This is the first in a series called CrunchGear In China about manufacturing in Shenzhen. Look for more posts this week and next.

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