are these STM32 ICs genuine or clone ?

[mehmet.karakaya]

Posted on June 04, 2018 at 15:17

hello dear forum,

I used to buy STM32 F103 mcus from my countries biggest supplier

this IC below is 5,- USD there 

now becouse of competition I need more cheap products and I imported 

this below IC for 2,35 USD from China

I soldered this on to my board and I saw that it is working  

( I downloaded code and tried some peripherals )

I could not check all the functions yet 

my question ;

this big price difference makes me suspicious

is this second picture genuine or clone ?

did you experience this second ICs ?

can I trust this second ICs ?

whats your opinion ?

thank you

#clone #stm32f103 #genuine

[Bogdan Golab]

Posted on June 04, 2018 at 16:37

Interesting.

I wonder hot to spot the difference - what kind of test to perform.

I do not like fake chips. I recall many issues with FT232 and the driver problems...

The STM32F103C8T6-based blue pill board costs ~2USD. Including shipment costs. How is it possible without using fake chips...?

[Tesla DeLorean]

Posted on June 04, 2018 at 17:35

>>How is it possible without using fake chips...?

There is a reality distortion field that creates pricing specific to China that is different to RoW (Rest-of-World) pricing.

There is also a lot of fake and dubious stuff going on. Thankfully we finally have people in charge that see the damage this type of behaviour has caused, and the uneven playing field it has created.

[henry.dick]

Posted on June 04, 2018 at 17:57

'

Thankfully we finally have people in charge that see the damage this type of behaviour has caused, and the uneven playing field it has created.'

It is about time some people in ST get punished for seeking their stuff too low in China.

Or you are suggesting that China forced ST to sell its stuff too low there? If so, I wonder why our governments didn't do the same for us.

[Bogdan Golab]

Posted on June 04, 2018 at 18:37

Yes, it makes sens.

Once I read about another source of cheap STM32 MCUs for blue pill boards: used chips.

There is very popular Nokia 5110 LCD and when you order it from China you sometimes get used items (disassembled ones). I happened to me twice - I got scratched items. Luckily they return money without any problem.

[T J]

Posted on June 05, 2018 at 00:28

My company have a scare about this a few years ago.

We had to write a policy of only purchasing through major distributors like Arrow and DigiKey.

We asked DigiKey to elaborate on their purchasing criteria.

Digi has confirmed in writing that all purchases are direct from the manufacturer, NONE of the product it holds is counterfeit.

This was necessary for Digi being a large supplier for the defense forces.

I would be surprised to see a clone of such a significant chip. albeit tiny in today's terms.

https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=stm32f103rct

 

much better to pay the proper price and then you know what you are getting.

It is common place these days to the sweatshops around the world to lift all the chips of every motherboard and resell them as refurbished chips. ( some processors are locked up and unusable, its a risky business)

[AvaTar]

Posted on June 05, 2018 at 07:20

There is a reality distortion field that creates pricing specific to China that is different to RoW (Rest-of-World) pricing.

This is not really specific to electronics.

You would be seething if I told what e.g. an Ukrainian pays for an Egypt Holiday. It's still a fortune for the average citizen, though. Or cars ...

[mehmet.karakaya]

Posted on June 05, 2018 at 11:07

hello

thank you for the comments 

The ICs I imported were unused and they were never soldered  before

but I still didnot get any answer to my original question

are these ICs a ST product or not ?

thank you

[T J]

Posted on June 05, 2018 at 09:20

My Ukrainian wife says food is the same price as in Australia, new cars are more expensive in Ukraine.

but wages are only $200 per month. Most people don't have any credit cards or loans...

[AvaTar]

Posted on June 05, 2018 at 09:46

My Ukrainian wife says food is the same price as in Australia, ...

And my Ukrainian wife recently learned how much a relative of her would have to pay for such a holiday trip. She (the relative) does not have even half of the money ...

... new cars are more expensive in Ukraine.

The reference to cars was not about the Ukraine, correct. Some while ago, I had been travelling  occasionally on behalf of my company, and did not fail to notice substantial differences in car prices across the border. Identical models of course.