China Is Selling Russia Lots of Faulty Chips
Up to 40% of the semiconductors being sold to Russia simply don’t work.
By Matthew Humphries
Russia has turned to China as a source of semiconductors because of sanctions cutting off supplies from elsewhere—but a large percentage of the chips being imported simply don’t work.
As The Register reports, the chip failure rate is as high as 40%, according to Russian national daily newspaper Kommersant. These chips are being purchased on the gray market by Russian electronics manufacturers from Chinese sellers. And it seems those sellers are taking advantage of the situation to dump broken parts in Russia while making a profit.
The Chinese government has attempted to remain neutral with regards to Russia’s invasion and subsequent war with Ukraine. But that hasn’t stopped some Chinese businesses and reseller spotting a money-making opportunity with almost zero risk, because Russian customers simply have nowhere else to go for their components.
Few will feel sorry for Russia being taken advantage of like this, especially when you consider the government has already turned to scavenging dishwasher chips in a desperate bid to fix its tanks. These faulty Chinese chips may have ended up inside military gear, had they worked.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
