One thing to keep in mind is that
@OLD MOTHER SATIVA has not mentioned their supplier. I am as wary as anyone of Chinese suppliers - it's a trust-then-verify situation. There is a different culture of business there that is much more
caveat emptor than Japan or Korea, or the US. I don't think it's racist to acknowledge it, and downright foolish to ignore it.
But Alibaba is just a Chinese online market for manufacturers and importers. It's silly to tar every seller there with the same brush. The fact is Samsung is selling more pre-fab LM561C chips than fabricated PCBs, so they are in the market. Roget claims to be one of many authorized resellers. The HLG guys claim they have sourced their chips from authorized suppliers, and in their recent dust-up with a would-be competitor revealed they used a Chinese fabricator that is listed on Alibaba. As with so many things LED right now, all roads lead to and from China, and Alibaba is the road map.
So, I trust that this Roget may be selling legit flexi-strips of LM561Cs. But I think it is incumbent upon anyone who would resell light engines using those chips to verify it through independent means, either via Samsung corporate, independent inspection (nothing about these chips IDs them?), or lab testing. Lab testing and publication of results before resale should be a
de minimus expectation. It will be for my strips for sure. I give
@OLD MOTHER SATIVA the credit for putting his to the test and letting the "chips" fall where they may.
-b420