Counterfeit STM8S003

 I went into ordering some counterfeit STM8S003 recently as the parts dried up and the prices were getting higher.  I didn't think much at the time as the seller had been around for a few years and had good reviews.

Aliexpress dispute initially rejected my claim and I had to dig much deeper for additional proof.  

I also did some extra digging and found out that STM8 is also a trademark, so leaving it in the description is sufficient enough to associate the part from ST Micro.  Aliexpress into real trouble if "STM8" result from their search engine shows a counterfeit part and they refused a refund sheltering guilty parties.

They have finally gave and started the refund process.

The seller photo edit out the company logo as it is a trademark and even left their company name in the picture.

I found another (counterfeit???) part that has the company logo intact.  The part look innocent enough except for markings on the third line..

Same part with similar pin1 dimple and "e4" logo.

Order page vs actual shipped parts

The actually shipped parts are actual a different batch of counterfeit that don't even look like the picture!  The ST logo is replace with a thinner version that looks more like 5T and the "E4" uses a different font as the top part of '4' is now closed.  The pin 1 dimple is now gone meaning that they now use a different part as the the base for the counterfeit.

Here is another look under the microscope.  The real ST part marking are engraved with a Laser while the counterfeit part is printed on.  Laser are cheap enough, that isn't the sure fire way of telling these days.

Left side is the real part that I have
Right Side is the counterfeit parts from the order

Part marking from STM8S003 datasheet

STM8S003 marking: PHL = Philippines, Year = 4, Week = 06 and Revision = Y

The counterfeit part uses a slightly different format.  CHN = China. The date code could be 03, 6 or 0, 36.

I have wired the part onto a protoboard.  My preliminary test probing the parasitic ESD protection diodes indicate that the counterfeit base part has same Power/Ground pin locations and likely it is also a microcontroller of some kind.  However unlike other simpler counterfeit parts, one can't exactly program it without knowing what it actually is.

The VCAP pin has no voltage output.  There are no active I/O pins, so likely there is no bootstrap loader.

There are a few other microcontrollers that shares a similar pinout and package.  e.g. Nuvoton N76E003AT20 (8051), HK32F003M (ARM M0) and possibly more.

I don't have a Nu-Link to try out, so there isn't much I can do.