I'm having hard time finding arguments for straight up counterfeit parts. Close enough is not enough in that case.
But compatible copies, with their own separate part numbers and logos, are perfectly fine, IMO. GD32 and STM32 are different devices coming from different manufacturers. Neither is counterfeit if it comes from the respective vendor. If you assume they are close enough, then it is on you. They have different datasheets with different electrical characteristics.
The issue is that sometimes sellers on questionable platforms change device markings. But that's on buyers. Stop buying from questionable sources if authenticity matters to you.
You're the voice of reason as usual and I mostly agree.
What was stopping GD from making a "GD-AWSUM-99" MCU with different pinouts to the STM32F103C8, an English data sheet, and lots of Internet advertising with prices and sources of supply ?
We know that they would have to wait for the market to sample, approve and want the new product, so profits would take longer, much like the STM32F103 return for STM ?
However GD wanted a fast return *now* , profit *now*, screw the future, damn customer trust (which must be earned). Someone said "China takes the long road, wisely looking to the future" but I don't see that here, I see only the lust for a quick buck and damn the consequences.
The irony is that the Chinese have utterly ruined trust in their honesty of supply (because of their fakes) when they could have had their own homegrown products of high quality respected the world over. That's not going to happen now, at least for a LONG time because "China" now means "junk" in the West.
We both know what will happen if we fill a bottle of Jim Bean with insecticide and leave it near a pub on Friday night. Claiming that it was *his* fault when some uninformed drunken idiot poisoned himself won't keep us out of prison.
At least in the West it won't.
When I read "Stop buying from questionable sources" I read "Stop buying from China and their resellers". I can buy from Germany, Italy, the USA, France, Australia, UK, New Zealand, Spain, Russia, Ukraine etc with confidence, and I have many times, no problem.
I bought a hand engraved, real leather wallet/phone holder from Ukraine during the Pandemic, it took about 3 months to get here and it's clearly hand made, it's real leather, it's superb. It's as cheap as one made from fake leather from China but of the highest quality and I'm proud to own it. Go Ukraine!!
I recently spent $400 on parts from arrow.com, excellent low prices, mega fast free UPS economy, traceable paperwork, sealed gas filled satchels with moisture detecting dots. Seeing how the global shortage hit like a Tsunami soon after, I only wish that I'd spent $1000 with Arrow instead.