Today, Shenzhen is known for its hardware expertise, thanks to its huge number of factories and resellers. It also has one of the world's most developed hardware industry chains and abundant intellectual capital.
Huaqiangbei, dubbed "China's No 1 electronics street," is home to varieties of electronic components that bolster as well as inspire innovations.
"We got inspirations from headphones, from speakers, from things you would not necessarily think about, and I think that is how a unique place is able to do that," Vazquez said.
Asif Khan, another HAX protege from Canada who is working on a new molding technology that will help manufacturers adjust their moldings quickly and easily, pointed out the other advantages of Shenzhen in the eyes of fledgling companies.
"It takes seven weeks to make a prototype in Canada while they could finish it in less than a week in China, (at) one-fifth the cost," he said. "The low cost of production means lower trial mistake costs, which allows me to fully try out new ideas."
After a four-month acceleration period for the new startups in Shenzhen, the products they design mark the start of a new journey for them. It will lead to upgrading their first products and the successful ones are likely to catch the eye of global investors, which will help them improve production and expand the market.P OpenTrons, which makes robots for biologists, has left its startup days far behind since it was set up in 2013. However, it still has a base in Shenzhen to conduct the hardware part of the business like calibrating its pipetting robots, robots that do the liquid-handling in laboratories. It sells its robots to labs in 38 countries around the world.
The startup's American founder Will Canine praised the spirit of "open innovation" in Shenzhen, saying it is the only way to compete globally in the 21st century.
"The Shenzhen way is to share and build on one another's designs, always striving to be the best, fastest, most innovative design," Canine said. "This open competitive environment is a great way to keep technology advancing quickly, and also ensures customers are benefiting from innovation immediately."
"I hope more people in the United States will start following Shenzhen's innovative example," he said. (Source: China Daily)
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