Osram, Orsam or Osarm? (Stripping down the counterfeit HID bulb)

Every week, HIDCONCEPT.COM ships out hundreds of Osram HID bulbs throughout US and Canda. It is natural that we receive questions about the authenticity of our Osram products. We receive all kinds of questions regarding our Osram bulbs, but the one that many customers ask is, "Are they authentic Osram?" The short answer is, "YES." There is no way we for us to be in this business and survive for more than 18 years by selling counterfeit bulbs.

Due to the rise of fake Osram D1s HID bulbs being spread out to eBay or Amazon, Philips and Osram have devised a label or coding on each of their HID bulbs to identify and authenticate the genuine HID bulbs. Even so, some of these counterfeit bulbs are getting very "good" at being so similar to the real thing that even the experts are having a hard time differentiating the two. At HIDCONCEPT.COM, we believe that the best way to purchase the real thing is to purchase the product from the proven reseller like us.

This is why we created this blog. It's sort of like a mission to let our customer see and understand the difference between the real and the fake. 

We took four Osram D1S HID bulbs to the test. Osram "TRUST CODE" D1S HID bulb is the consumer package that has the 7 digit code that when you put the code in at Osram.com/trust, it will display the correct serial number of the bulb. A match and you have the genuine Osram D1S bulb. Osram D1S HID bulb (66144) is the industrial pack. These are mostly sold to car manufacturers or any other type of "industrial" customers, and they are typically shipped without the consumer package. Since we have the buying power to purchase these in massive quantity, we can offer the same bulb at a drastically lower price. Now, these two Osram D1S HID bulbs are the real thing.

The Sylvania D1S HID bulb is from AUTOZONE. We ordered one at a price of $ 99.99. As you can see from the picture that the package is "Sylvania" but the content, the D1S HID bulb is, "OSRAM." Also, the Autozone HID bulb does not have the "TRUST CODE." Just a footnote:  Osram Sylvania Inc. is the North American operation of lighting manufacturer of the Osram products, and sells products under the name, "Sylvania." We're not sure why they would have Sylvania on the package but an Osram bulb inside. Whatever the reason, the purpose of comparing the Autozone/Sylvania D1S HID bulb is to prove that our Osram D1S HID bulb is exactly same as the Autozone Sylvania D1S HID bulb.

Now for the fun part. A pair of counterfeit Osram D1S bulbs that we purchased from eBay at an incredible price of... $ 69.00 for two bulbs! Yes. This is the unfortunate reason why so many people get suckered into buying these bulbs. From the start, it was incredibly funny that the merchant sent the bulbs via priority mail (We did not request for the service) When we opened up the package. It was just so obvious that these were fake. First, the real Osram HID bulbs do not have a disco shining metal base, and as you can see at the base of the round plastic, the real Osram HID bulbs have the opening, not an enclosed plastic base. When we disassembled the chrome metal base, a nice oozing of some kind of grease came out. WTF is the only answer to the mysterious liquid. More surprises when we actually opened the black plastic bottom. Last time I saw something like this was at a boy scout camp. I never would have associated HID bulbs with S'More. Again, WTF for the second time. Whoever made this counterfeit just slapped on, glue the bottom with some kind of white silicon material. Anyway, as the picture proves that the counterfeits are obviously a fake HID bulb.

Why do we insist on quality brands like Philips and Osram? Why do we literally spend years in R&D before introducing our own brand, "DAMA?" We take counterfeit bulbs very seriously. It is not only unethical but can also be potentially dangerous for the customers. It is upsetting that some people out there are selling these counterfeit HID bulbs to the unsuspecting customers. 

The video of this event was taken and will soon be uploaded to our Youtube channel. We made the video for those Doubting Thomas who needs the second proof of what we did. Stay tuned...