WHY SHENZHEN?

Shenzhen is often dubbed “China’s

Silicon Valley”, with a techno culture unlike anywhere in the world. What would normally take months of development in the West takes weeks in Shenzhen. Rather than supplying traditional brick-andmortar stores, most companies sell online.

Huge bazaars of electronic components allow developers instant access to the parts they require. Need an arcade button? Then simply go to the stall selling buttons. Need an analog stick? There’s probably a stall for that too.

In Shenzhen, it’s not uncommon to see people rummaging through bins, however, they’re looking for old phones to salvage parts, rather than searching for food.

This hyperavailability of parts has created a market of niche gadgets where anything gets made. Ideas are copied (or stolen) and improved upon. Open-source software and hardware are popular, with Linux and Android powering most gadgets.