SIA commences anti-counterfeiting effort

End users and semiconductor manufacturers alike suffer as a result of the use of counterfeit components.

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 4/24/2008

To help combat the growing problem of counterfeit components entering the supply chain, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) released a directory of authorized distributors this week as part of a larger campaign that involves working with customs authorities to seize counterfeits at the borders and encouraging the authentication of legitimate products.

“Counterfeiting is a serious and growing problem in the worldwide electronics industry. The recent seizure of more than 360,000 counterfeit integrated circuits and computer network components in a joint effort of customs agencies of the United States and the European Union is evidence of the size of international traffic in illicit electronic components. Counterfeit products pose a significant risk to consumers as well as to the manufacturers of semiconductors and electronic products,” commented SIA president George Scalise, in a statement.

To read more about how counterfeiting negatively impacts the semiconductor supply chain, see "The universal law of supply and demand and the grey market'" and "Counterfeit product declines as grey market struggles in 2008."

SIA said it and its members helped US and European customs officials to collect information leading to the seizure of the counterfeit goods, and the industry association also said it is working with the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) on a standard to encourage the use of authentication service providers who offer “license plates” that can be attached to containers of chips to help alert buyers to potential counterfeits.

Indeed end users and semiconductor manufacturers suffer as a result of the use of counterfeit components.

Counterfeit components do not allow consumers to get what they pay for since CPUs may be actually remarked chips that deliver slower performance with an increased risk of failure, than what the package promises.

Also, systems manufacturers in all industries suffer damage to their reputation when a product fails or does not perform according to expectations, causing property damage or loss of life, the SIA reminded.

Fraudulent warranty returns from counterfeit components result in costly failure analysis and problems when equipment manufacturers seek replacement of failed components purchased through illicit suppliers.

And the reputation and profitability of semiconductor manufacturers is harmed along with brand equity by counterfeit products.

John Sullivan, chairman of the SIA Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (ACTF) and director of worldwide security for Texas Instruments noted, “Counterfeit products can create significant reliability problems for end systems. Remarked products are the most common counterfeit devices. These products often have false labels, damaged or missing die, and inferior packaging materials. The use of counterfeit products in systems such as computers and network systems can lead to costly failures. If such components find their way into aircraft, automotive, or medical equipment, failures can have tragic results.”

One way to protect against using counterfeit or substandard components is to purchase them from the original manufacturer or an authorized distributor, as listed in the 2008 Official Manufacturers' Distributor Authorization Reference Manual, which makes it easy for buyers to quickly find the manufacturers' authorized distributors.

With the support of the SIA, Rochester Electronics published the authorization manual to create a central repository for this information.

For a copy of the printed reference manual, e-mail your request to authorizedguide@rocelec.com.

The site, www.authorizedcomponents.com, will link from www.sia-online.org, www.rocelec.com and other participating manufacturers.