Shenzhen
5 statements across 4 episodes · 3 bullish · 1 bearish · 4 people on the record · first statement Jul 15, 2017 by Benedict Evans · said 30 times in 18 episodes since 2017 · across every show →
Mentions by year
brought up most by Benedict Evans (14), Steven Sinofsky (6), Clay Shirky (2), Matt Cronin (1), Marc Andreessen (1), J.D. Vance (1), Erin Price-Wright (1), Dan Wang (1)
tap a year for its mentions
2025 8 mentions in 5 episodes 2 per episode
- The Lawyerly Society vs. The Engineering State: Who Owns the Future?
- The Death of Search: How Shopping Will Work In The Age of AI
- Former Microsoft Executive on Apple’s Hidden China Problem
- JD Vance on the Future of America
- Drone Warfare: The New Rules of Combat Are Here
- every mention in 2025, scene by scene →
2024 2 mentions in 2 episodes 1 per episode
2019 19 mentions in 10 episodes 2 per episode
- a16z Podcast | Software is What Distinguishes the Hardware Winners
- a16z Podcast | Truce for Mobile, Battle for VR
- a16z Podcast | Connectivity and the Internet as Supply Chain
- a16z Podcast | Mobile Falls Hard for Virtual Reality
- a16z Podcast | 'In the Eye of a Tornado': Views on Innovation from China
- a16z Podcast | Enough with the Old Stuff -- Time for New Questions in Mobile
- a16z Podcast | Tesla and the Nature of Disruption
- a16z Podcast | Platforming the Future
- 2 more episodes that year, every mention in 2019 →
2017 1 mention in 1 episode
Everything said about Shenzhen, oldest first
Jul 15, 2017 neutral
Evans: Hardware success depends on vision and distribution, not core tech
“Today, you can just go to Shenzhen and say, we'll have a number three and number 15, please, and then it gets put together for you. And so the question is more about the vision and the route to market than the, kind of, the underlying core technology.”
Jan 2, 2019 positive
Shirky: Xiaomi leverages flash sales to secure bulk component discounts
“What it lets Xiaomi do is do these flash sales where they say, Look, we've got a 100,000 of the Hongmi, or we've got a 100,000 of the Me Too. We're going to sell those now. You have to sign up for the right to get a ticket to have a chance to buy the phone, wh…”
Dec 12, 2024 negative
Oct 6, 2025 positive
Sinofsky: Shenzhen manufacturers build dedicated facilities for 100k-unit laptop commitments
“The PC industry grew up in Shenzhen. And they have these factories where like you show up and if you commit to building, you know, a 100,000 laptops, they will build you a building and they will keep all your IP in the building. They will not cross employees o…”
Oct 6, 2025 positive
Sinofsky: Restricting rural migrant movement enabled China's economic system to work
“In the factories in Shenzhen, there are the rural people, and they're not allowed to just move. Like, they can temporarily relocate for work, and then the state sort of requires them to go back, and in a sense, they are forced to repatriate what they earned as…”