As the components needed for today’s electronic products increase in complexity, their cost rises, with some specialist chips costing many hundreds of dollars each. With the packages all looking the same, and the only way to optically distinguish individual devices being through their printed information, these, and many other ICs, are extremely attractive to the counterfeiter. Sadly, there will always be people ready to make a fast buck at the expense of someone else. If you add to this the practical realities of supply shortages, new product introduction (NPI) and the need for a faster time to market, then it further creates an opportunity for the counterfeiters, as higher prices are commanded for lower cost items which become scarce and/or are normally on long lead times.

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