In China’s Silicon Valley, COVID-19 Curbs Pinch Hardware Startups

In China’s Silicon Valley, COVID-19 Curbs Pinch Hardware Startups
Start-up teams and staff take a lunch break at Hax's office amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei electronics market, Guangdong province, China, on July 16, 2021. David Kirton/Reuters
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SHENZHEN, China—From an office in Shenzhen’s sprawling electronics district, an engineering team is prototyping a bioreactor that will one day produce “cultivated meat”, discussing component sizes in a video call with scientists sitting in kitchens and bedrooms in the UK.

It’s a complicated conversation about precision parts that would ordinarily need a hands-on meeting in Shenzhen, the hardware center of the world where product makers can buy and tinker with any gear they need.