If you want to build hardware in Shenzhen, there's no better person to ask than someone who's done it three times. Laurent Le Pen, a French serial entrepreneur, moved to Shenzhen in 2007. Back then, the city was still in Hong Kong's shadow. Today, it's the undisputed capital of hardware manufacturing, and Laurent has been there for the entire transformation.

Over 18 years, he founded Omate (smartwatches), Oclean (smart oral care), and most recently Oxtak, an AI productivity device called "Moneypenny." Along the way, he raised over $1 million on Kickstarter, filed 300+ patents, won 30+ design awards, and built products that shipped to dozens of countries.

We sat down with Laurent for the Asiabits Podcast to get his unfiltered take on what it actually takes to build hardware in Shenzhen. Not the LinkedIn version. The real one.

18 Years in Shenzhen: How to Build Hardware in a City That Never Stops

Laurent arrived in Shenzhen in 2007, working for Philips Mobile Design. At the time, Shenzhen wasn't the global manufacturing powerhouse people think of today. It was a city of factories, sure, but it was rough around the edges.

Then the iPhone happened. And everything changed.

The smartphone revolution didn't just disrupt Western companies. It rewired Shenzhen's entire supply chain. Suddenly, the same factories that had been churning out basic electronics were being asked to produce components for the most advanced consumer devices on the planet. The city leveled up, fast.

Laurent saw the opportunity early. In 2011, he left Philips to start his first company, building smartwatches. He began with a kids' watch concept, then pivoted to senior-focused devices when he realized the market for elderly wearables was wide open and underserved.

That willingness to pivot is something Laurent still practices. Every year, he takes on a side project to stay current with the latest technology. His most recent: a "dumbphone" for seniors with a built-in AI voice assistant. Simple hardware, smart software. Classic Shenzhen thinking.

How to Actually Build Hardware in Shenzhen

This is where most articles get it wrong. They talk about Shenzhen manufacturing like it's a vending machine: you put in a design, and a product comes out. Laurent's experience tells a different story.

Finding the Right Suppliers

The first question everyone asks: do you need to speak Chinese? It helps, but it's not required. What matters more is preparation. Showing up at a factory with a clear spec sheet, reference samples, and realistic timelines gets you further than perfect Mandarin.

That said, the real advantage of being on the ground in Shenzhen is access. You can visit five factories in a single day. You can hold components in your hand. You can catch quality issues before they become expensive problems. Try doing that over a Zoom call from Berlin.

The Factory Relationship Problem

Here's something that surprises first-time hardware founders: Shenzhen factories are incredibly good at copying. Hand them a reference product, and they'll reproduce it with remarkable accuracy. But ask them to innovate on a new concept from scratch, and most will push back.

This isn't laziness. It's economics. Factories run on thin margins, and experimenting with unproven designs costs money. They'd rather take a proven product and optimize it than gamble on your untested idea. For a hardware startup, that means you need to own the design process yourself and come to the factory with something concrete, not just a sketch on a napkin.

From "Made in China" to "Brands from China"

The biggest shift Laurent has witnessed over 18 years is the rise of Chinese brands. When he started, Shenzhen was purely a manufacturing hub. Western companies designed products, and Chinese factories built them. That dynamic has flipped.

Today, companies like DJI, Anker, and Xiaomi are global brands that happen to be headquartered in Shenzhen. They design, manufacture, and market their own products. For foreign entrepreneurs like Laurent, this means the competition is fiercer than ever. But it also means the supply chain is more sophisticated, the talent pool is deeper, and the infrastructure is world-class.

If you're curious about how China's robotics startups are riding this same wave, our conversation with Tuo Liu from Robotuo covers similar ground from a robotics angle.

The Kickstarter Playbook from Shenzhen

Laurent's Omate TrueSmart smartwatch raised over $1 million on Kickstarter, making it the 5th most funded Design project on the platform at the time. Running a hardware crowdfunding campaign from China while selling to backers in the US and Europe taught him a few things.

Why Shenzhen Is Ideal for Crowdfunding

The speed advantage is real. While a US-based hardware startup might spend months sourcing components and negotiating with overseas factories, Laurent could walk to his suppliers. Prototyping cycles that take weeks elsewhere happen in days in Shenzhen. When you're running a Kickstarter campaign with tight deadlines and impatient backers, that speed is the difference between shipping on time and becoming another crowdfunding horror story.

Building a Global Community from China

The harder part wasn't manufacturing. It was marketing. Selling a product made in China to Western consumers in 2011-2013 still carried stigma. Laurent had to build trust through transparency: factory tour videos, detailed engineering updates, and responsive customer service across time zones.

His approach was simple but effective. Treat backers like co-developers, not just customers. Share the messy reality of hardware development. People forgive delays when they understand why they happen. They don't forgive silence.

From Watches to AI: The Serial Entrepreneur's Path

Laurent's career arc tells the story of Shenzhen itself. Each company he built reflected where the city's manufacturing capabilities were at that moment.

The jump from oral care to AI productivity might look random, but the underlying logic is consistent: find a hardware category where software can add real value, build it in Shenzhen, and sell it globally.

Why Oxtak Is Launching in Japan First

Oxtak's Moneypenny is targeting a Q1 2026 launch in Japan before expanding to the US and Europe. That's a deliberate choice. Japan has high adoption rates for productivity tools, strong demand for translation technology, and consumers who are willing to pay premium prices for well-designed hardware. It's also geographically close to Shenzhen, which simplifies logistics and after-sales support.

The business model has shifted too. Oxtak runs on a SaaS model, meaning the real revenue comes from ongoing subscriptions, not one-time hardware sales. It's a sign of how Shenzhen's hardware entrepreneurs are evolving: the device is the delivery mechanism, but the software is the business.

For a deeper look at how investors and founders are approaching the broader Shenzhen tech scene, our episode with Francesco Crivelli, who has visited 500+ Chinese robotics companies, offers a useful counterpoint.

Advice for First-Time Hardware Founders

After 18 years and three companies, Laurent has earned the right to give advice. Here's what he'd tell someone thinking about building their first hardware product in Shenzhen.

Show Up

This is non-negotiable. You can source components remotely. You can manage a factory over WeChat. But you cannot build a great hardware product without spending real time in Shenzhen. The city works on relationships, speed, and proximity. Remote founders miss all three.

Talk to the Owner, Not the Salesperson

Factory salespeople are optimized to say yes. They'll agree to timelines they can't hit and specs they can't meet. The factory owner, on the other hand, will tell you the truth, because their reputation depends on it. Getting access to the owner takes time and trust, but it's worth the effort.

Start Simple, Then Iterate

Don't try to build your dream product on the first attempt. Start with the simplest possible version, get it manufactured, ship it, learn from the feedback, and iterate. Shenzhen's speed advantage works best when you're moving fast through iterations, not spending two years perfecting a first version that might miss the market.

Join the Community

Shenzhen has a thriving community of hardware founders, many of them foreign. Groups like La French Tech HK/SZ (where Laurent serves as Board Member) and organizations like InnoX Academy connect founders with mentors, suppliers, and funding. The knowledge in these networks is hard to find anywhere else.

If you're planning a trip to Shenzhen to explore the hardware and robotics scene firsthand, get in touch with us. We regularly organize guided visits to the city's most interesting companies and factories.

The Bottom Line

Shenzhen manufacturing has changed enormously since Laurent first arrived in 2007. The factories are more capable, the local competition is fiercer, and the bar for quality is higher than ever. But for foreign hardware founders who are willing to show up, build relationships, and move fast, it remains the best place in the world to turn an idea into a physical product.

The city doesn't care about your pitch deck. It cares about your bill of materials. That's what makes it special.

For more on-the-ground perspectives from founders building in China, check out our latest insights or subscribe to get these stories delivered to your inbox every morning.

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