Cut into the Number of Famiclones Ever Produced - Case #9: SENITON
- hallyvorc
- 2 日前
- 読了時間: 3分
更新日：8 時間前
From this issue I will take a deeper look at a medium-sized manufacturer that fewer people are familiar with. The ninth article focuses on Seniton Tech Industry Co., Ltd. which was as well known in mainland China as the major players.
How to Define “Mid-Size Manufacturer” ?
The next subject in this series of articles is the medium-sized famiclone manufacturers in Taiwan. Since the data is more limited than that of the major players, the investigation will be more difficult, but I will try to follow the situation as far as I can. I will consider the following three conditions to define a "medium-sized" manufacturer.
1) The product line-up consists of at least three models.
2) Products have been sold in more than three countries/areas.
3) Used products are relatively easy to find.
Not many manufacturers meet these criteria. To the best of my knowledge, only the following eight companies fall into this category (year of foundation in brackets).
Shin Ten Do Co., Ltd.[STD] (1986)
Seniton Tech Industry Co., Ltd. (1987)
Hijet Technology Inc. [HiTex] (1988)
Kuangte Electronics Co., Ltd. [Goodboy] (1989)
Taiwan Megawise Co., LTD. (1989)
Fushitai Co., Ltd. [Master Games] (1991)
Argo Electronics Co., Ltd. (1993)
Yulin Electronics Co., Ltd. [Bel Sonic] (1987)
I won't include the latter four companies in this report, as they certainly originated in Taiwan but quickly moved their headquarters to either Hong Kong or mainland China in the early stages.
This time I investigate in Seniton Tech Industry Co., Ltd. (力通科技實業有限公).
Seniton Tech Industry
Seniton was a tech toy manufacturer founded in 1987 by a man named M.T.Lin (林銘鍛). It was also one of the few famiclone manufacturers based in southern Taiwan (more than 90% were based in the north, especially around Taipei).
Seniton began selling famiclones in 1989 under the 小林通/Seniton brands, which became popular mainly in Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea.
One of the company's remarkable moves is that it has had a factory in mainland China since shortly after it started selling Famiclones. Seniton was the second earliest of Taiwan's major famiclone manufacturers, such as TXC and AARONIX/ZONIC, which have had mainland factories since 1988. Perhaps as a result, Seniton had a presence in mainland China that was comparable to those of the major players.
Early Models and Late Models
Seniton's famiclones are largely divided into early models, mainly manufactured in Taiwan, and later models, mainly manufactured in mainland China.
As for the early models, there were only two in their catalogue: the Famicom knock-off model (SNC-001/002) and the Songtly DS-100 inspired model (SNC-003). They were distributed internationally, and sales in Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, Korea and Malaysia have been confirmed.
The later models, on the other hand, are sold almost exclusively in mainland China and the former Soviet bloc. There are nearly ten models, but most of them borrow the shape of popular famiclones from other companies. In any case, only a handful of them were widely available on the market.
There were at least four mainland Chinese companies/factories associated with Seniton. The first of these companies was Guangzhou Xiaolintong Electronics Co., Ltd. (广州市小林通电子有限公司, 1988-1999). The fact that the name often appears on early models suggests that Seniton directly controlled its production. However, this company was not owned by Seniton, but was set up by a Hong Kong company named Suresold Development Ltd. and a mainland substrate manufacturer (广州市番禺华丰实业公司).
Later models are made by another Chinese company. Let's look at them next.
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