Entrepreneurs take on multinational dominance
Open-source hardware, crowd-based funding and agile bespoke manufacturing boost creativity in Shenzhen, a city built on economic reform
Not long ago, budding entrepreneurs innovated software while major corporations created hardware with dedicated research and development budgets. Times have changed, and Shenzhen now stands at the forefront of China's tech revolution.
Shenzhen's hot-housed hardware production platform companies, such as Ingdan and Seeed, show how anyone with a working design doodled on the back of an envelope can get their idea produced quickly, see if it works, and then take it to market.
Open-source hardware, crowd-based funding and agile bespoke manufacturing, such as 3D printing, have democratised the production and creative processes. In mainland China's own burgeoning "Silicon Valley", startups and entrepreneurs are being enticed by Shenzhen's development capabilities and diversity.
Ingdan, a hardware-innovation platform that connects international entrepreneurs specialising in electronic goods with the mainland China's supply chain, sees Shenzhen as the perfect place for fostering new ideas.
"China's manufacturing heartland is in Shenzhen, and that - combined with government policies - means that it's naturally attractive to IT organisations. [The city also] has the production capabilities and low costs that easily give it an advantage that the nation's [competitors] still struggle to match," says Ingdan president and founder Jeffery Kang.
These hardware-innovation businesses also believe that major corporations shouldn't be the only companies to bring new products to market.
