by Angela Guess
Falguni Desai recently wrote in Forbes, “The IoT sector has found its center of gravity in a city far away from Silicon Valley, in the bustling, southern Chinese Special Economic Zone of Shenzhen. The Tier 2 China city with a population of approximately 14 million is located 40km north of Hong Kong. While the city has always had a special identity as an entrepreneurial manufacturing hub, more recently it has become the darling of IoT entrepreneurs from around the world.”
Desai goes on, “To many in the U.S. and Europe, Shenzhen is not a familiar name, but increasingly, people are learning and making the move to this buzzing mecca. Silicon Valley attracts software programmers and coders from around the world. Shenzhen attracts those who make hardware, tinker with devices and create at the intersection of technology and objects. The business world refers to them as “makers,” named after the maker movements that have been growing since 2005. It is this culture of tinkering and experimenting which make Shenzhen uniquely attractive. For example, last year at the Maker Faire, events where entrepreneurs, factory owners and technologists interact, learn and display their latest renderings, Shenzhen hosted 50,000 attendees. As connected devices become common, Shenzhen’s manufacturing heritage, talent base and technology workers make it a perfect IoT hub, not just for China, but the entire world.”
He adds, “Perhaps one of the more notable examples of Shenzhen’s growing influence was when Zach Smith, the New York based founder of Makerbot and a 3D printing pioneer moved from New York to make Shenzhen his new home. Or consider DJI, the drone manufacturer, which many consider to be a leader in its sector, which is headquartered in Shenzhen. And then of course there is Foxconn, the Taiwanese company which built its first China factory in Longhua Town, Shenzhen. The company occupies a one square mile complex including dorms, grocery stores and work sites for its employees.”
Photo credit: Flickr/ Sean_Marshall