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There are a few tiers of fake products. The same is roughly true for sneakers, handbags, etc. (A) Real products that are being sold on the black market, think
by aosmith 4y ago
There are a few tiers of fake products. The same is roughly true for sneakers, handbags, etc.
(A) Real products that are being sold on the black market, think of these as stolen from the factory. They're cheaper because nobody is paying the royalties.
(B) High quality knock offs that are made at the same factory with the same materials and tools. These might be slightly less well made.
(C) What you think of as fake. Just junk.
Most people encounter A and B without ever knowing it.
- EvanAnderson 4y agoThese knock-offs of Cisco 2960X's definitely fall into category B. They'd be next to impossible to identify in the field: https://www.servethehome.com/fake-cisco-switches-in-the-supply-chain-uncovered/ https://www.servethehome.com/fake-cisco-switches-in-the-supp...
- phpisthebest 4y agoThere is also Grey Market, goods sold at a discount in other nations then reimported back to the US, dont know if that popular with enterprise gear but it for sure is with consumer electronics, and other product groups (like books which is legal now thanks to the US Supreme court)
- aosmith 4y agoThat's category A...
- thaumasiotes 4y agoSure, but the obvious question is why we would care about "counterfeit" Cisco equipment that is... technically... only if you're an obnoxious pedant... but technically... exactly identical to genuine Cisco equipment.
- grayfaced 4y agoUpdates. Warranty.
- thaumasiotes 4y agoIs the vendor offering a counterfeit warranty? What do the updates and warranty have to do with it?
- oceanplexian 4y agoIf it was made overseas and didn’t go through the same QA process for production Cisco equipment, I’d be worried it’d be bugged.
- aosmith 4y agoIf it's something for the defense industry they definitely care.
- marcus0x62 4y agoOther people have mentioned the software update/warranty problem. Another problem is these counterfeit devices are usually not “identical” in any meaningful sense of the word. While they might look the same, the counterfeiters typically swap lower quality parts (think things like capacitors and other similar components) whenever they can, and the devices fail prematurely or sporadically.
- themacguffinman 4y agoThis is one reason I avoid Amazon like the plague. It's absolutely filled with fake products of all tiers and there's often no reliable way to verify this as a consumer. Retailers are supposed to have a secure and verified supply chain but apparently Amazon doesn't see the point in this, they co-mingle inventory and will deliver you a fake product with the same SKU.
- javajosh 4y agoI wonder if they get away with it because for most people the fake is good enough?
- themacguffinman 4y agoYou can't really conclude that if consumers never find out they're getting fakes. When fakes fail or cause issues, they blame the original company. Amazon shares product ratings/reviews of an SKU.